Recent Posts

9101

General Software Discussion / Re: Specs for new pc?

« Last post by 40hz on June 08, 2010, 06:51 AM »

Actually I don't. Surely the easiest way to get rid of crapware is not to install it in the first place, is it not?

-daddydave (June 08, 2010, 04:59 AM)

True. But there's always free tools like PC Decrapifier for situations where a machine is loaded with as much junk as you can shake a stick at. This utility has made getting rid of junk so easy that even a relative neophyte could handle it.

So yes, while it's better not to have it on your box in the first place, it's still no big deal to get rid of.

I haven't had an issue with drivers having to be installed in the correct sequence since Windows 98 at the latest.

-daddydave (June 08, 2010, 04:59 AM)

Depends on what you're building. Today it's more about hassles with BIOS updates rather than driver issues. So yes, you won't encounter driver installation sequence issues too much any more. But it still does rear it's ugly head from time to time.

What recovery software are you referring to?

-daddydave (June 08, 2010, 04:59 AM)

Anything that allows you to make your own disk image recovery set. Macrium Reflect is an excellent choice for Windows machines.

I really like Macrium. They even use the word "whilst" on their website.

Clonezilla will do the same (plus a whole lot more) for for any OS, including Windows.

There's a DC thread running on this topic over here.

Also I don't have a lot of experience with choosing a vendor that bundles the fewest unwanted apps, but I do have a lot of experience installing and tweaking Windows from a bare install. A lot of it is about leveraging existing skill sets.

But I agree with a lot of what you say, nowadays it is not so much saving money or time as having control.

-daddydave (June 08, 2010, 04:59 AM)

Agree. Mostly. But as I get older, I'm finding (for me) it is more about saving time. More about getting it done correctly with the least amount of unnecessary effort.

But I do this for a living. And I've been doing it for a loooong time! My first PC (not my first computer) was an IBM PC-XT with dual 5-1/4" floppy drives. So maybe I'm just getting a tad bit lazy about Windows machines now that I'm in my dotage. After you build better than a hundred and configure/tweak more than a few thousand machines, anything is likely to stop being as much fun as it used to.

Fortunately for me, the thrill is not completely gone. Thank heavens for Linux and BSD!  

Luck with your build.

9102

Living Room / Re: The Ever-Evolving Question of Privacy

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2010, 06:41 PM »

In 1911, Ambrose Bierce published his classic book: The Devil's Dictionary.

LIBERTY, n.
    
One of Imagination's most precious possessions.

FREEDOM, n.

1. Exemption from the stress of authority in a beggarly half dozen of restraint's infinite multitude of methods.

2. A political condition that every nation supposes itself to enjoy in virtual monopoly.

see Liberty. The distinction between freedom and liberty is not accurately known; naturalists have never been able to find a living specimen of either.

I think Bierce might have been on to something.  

9103

Living Room / Re: The Pill that can Wipe out Painful Memories

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2010, 06:21 PM »

I just finished reading a bunch of reports about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Then I looked at some of the latest aerial news footage...



Anybody know where can I get a bottle of those pills?

9104

Living Room / Re: Saturn's moon Titan could host Aliens

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2010, 05:46 PM »

For the amount of scientific evidence being offered to support that contention, you could also make an argument that it's the final resting place of the Lost Ark and the Secret Treasure of the Knights Templar!

Both.

To which I say:

9105

General Software Discussion / Re: Recommend disk imaging software?

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2010, 04:05 PM »

+1 on Macrium Reflect.

Works as advertised and it's easy to use. They still have a very capable "free for personal use" version available for download. Free or paid - it's an excellent choice.  

There's also Clonezilla if you're feeling adventurous or want to go the multi-platform route.

Most Windows users will be a lot happier with Macrium.

9106

Living Room / Re: Honestly, who here actually owns an iPad? be honest!

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2010, 03:52 PM »

Honestly?

Have you ever read Apple's EULA?

As far as I can tell, the only "person" who actually owns an iPad is Apple Computer.

Everybody else just gets to use one.

9107

Living Room / Re: Is a college education worth the money?

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2010, 03:02 PM »

Unfortunately, having an education is not the same thing as having a credential.

Where I live, a degree is a requirement to apply for many good employment opportunities. You may well be highly qualified yet lacking a degree. But in many cases you'll never get the chance to show a potential employer that you are.

It's dangerous to make generalizations. But in this case I think two of the cruelest pieces of advice you could give someone just starting out are:

1. You don't really need a college degree to land a good job.  

2. During a job interview - just be yourself!




 

9108

Living Room / Re: New flash player vulnerability (affects Adobe Reader as well)

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2010, 02:47 PM »

'Bout time to whip out the NoScript, have ya the browser for it.

Ehtyar.

-Ehtyar (June 05, 2010, 04:55 AM)

Aye! Thassa bes' way ta thwart yer wossname snitch.

NoScript. Learn it, load it, love it! 

9109

General Software Discussion / Re: What to use to secure delete a HDD?

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2010, 09:31 AM »

And no, even though .dk is member of the EU, we opted out of the €uro and a couple of other things.

-f0dder (June 07, 2010, 09:22 AM)

Smart. 

9110

General Software Discussion / Re: What to use to secure delete a HDD?

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2010, 09:05 AM »

With a recovery price of DKK 500

-f0dder (June 07, 2010, 06:44 AM)

Just out of curiosity, is DKK 500 very much money - or are we talking something like dinner out in Aarhus?

9111

General Software Discussion / Re: Specs for new pc?

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2010, 07:34 AM »

Unless you have some specialist application in mind (i.e. DAW, server, etc.), I don't see many compelling financial reasons to roll your own PC if you're on a sub $1k budget.

T'was a time when I wouldn't own a PC unless I built it myself. But the cost/value ratio has shifted a lot over the last five years so I've been forced to rethink my earlier position.

A quick scan over at Newegg spotted one machine from a 'big name' that had an Intel i3 530 chip/6Gb RAM/1 TB HD/DVD Super-Multi drive/5-in-1 media card reader/ 1 available PCI-E slot/ Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit/ yadda-yadda-yadda...plus a 1 year parts and labor warranty...and all for $560.

Note that this is a fully assembled and set up machine - as in "known good and tested configuration."

There were several others that also looked pretty good.

So unless you're planning to build either for the enjoyment or educational experience gained by doing so, it really doesn't make much sense to scratch-build a general purpose low-mid level PC these days. Especially if you're only building one and not getting any volume discounts on the components.

That being said, it is definitely a lot of fun to put a new PC together.

Or at least it is for the first ten or twenty you build.  

--------------

Easier to fix the computer yourself using off the shelf parts instead of the manufacturer's parts deliberately overpriced to sell extended warranties (at least it was that way when I worked at CompUSA a long time ago)

I think that's a thing of the past. Every PC I've looked at in the past 10 years uses standard components. While some may have manufacturer labels on them, they're all made by the same companies (Seagate, Intel, ATI, NVidia, etc.) So swapping components is not an issue these days.

The only possible problem areas are the power supplies and motherboards. But replacement power supplies are available from 3rd-party suppliers for every make and model out there.

Motherboards are a different issue due to case layout and mounting concerns - and the fact that many OEM versions of the supplied OS are keyed to only work with that manufacturer's motherboards and chipsets.

My feeling is that if you have to replace a motherboard, you might as well just get a new PC and recycle parts from the old PC into it. That, or use the salvageable parts as the basis for a new scratch-build.

One place where it does make sense to build your own basic PC is if you have a good collection of usable components on your junk shelf. Franken-PCs are great for appliance use, web browsing, and general productivity applications.

And it's a lot more environmentally friendly to recycle old PC parts into working machines than it is to further contaminate our landfills by tossing them. Discarded lithium batteries are already beginning to become an environmental problem in some areas. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

In many locales, it's already illegal to put computer components in with the regular trash.

(Not that any DC member would ever do anything that irresponsible, right?  )

It's nice to buy an OEM Windows disk instead of a disk with the manufacturer's crapware bundled with the OS.

With you 100% on that score, but that's the fault of Microsoft rather than the PC manufacturers. And maybe it isn't really Microsoft's fault either when you consider all the shenanigans and casual rip-offs that used to go on back in the days of W95/W2K when everybody shipped a genuine Microsoft CD with their PC.

One good trend is that many manufacturers have seen the light and are no longer loading crapware onto their machines.

But there are still some that do. The biggest offenders seem to be the machines you get at 'big box' stores. That's because these stores have their own deals with various crapware companies, and require the PC manufacturers to do a custom build of the installed software on machines sold through their store.

Basic rule of thumb - don't get a PC from a 'big box' store unless you absolutely have to. You can almost always get a better deal either going directly to the manufacturer or one of the reputable mail order suppliers. And best of all, you won't be provoked to murder some polo-shirted store employee who keeps trying to trick you into buying their overpriced "extended warranty."



FWIW, it's also not too difficult to get rid of that junk. It's certainly less work than loading a fresh copy of Windows, installing updates, loading drivers (and doing that in the correct sequence), updating those, installing recovery software, building recovery disks, running a...well...you get the picture.


Luck!

9112

Living Room / Re: The Pill that can Wipe out Painful Memories

« Last post by 40hz on June 07, 2010, 07:02 AM »

That research sounds pretty cool, hopefully this will help people with phobias in the future. Tough i wonder if you could pay to erase specific memories in the future would you do it? I dunno.

-gexecuter (June 05, 2010, 12:05 PM)

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind 

-f0dder (June 05, 2010, 01:56 PM)

+1. (f0dder beat me to it. )

9113

General Software Discussion / Re: Specs for new pc?

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2010, 05:22 PM »

www.Maximumpc.com regularly publishes updated builds you might want to take a look at.

9114

Living Room / Re: Why do we always wait for apple's stuff before making a i[blank]-killer??

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2010, 03:59 PM »

There used to be a (possibly apocryphal) story told during the fast-food heyday.

It said that McDonalds routinely spent millions on research and demographic analysis before siting and building new restaurants.

BurgerKing, on the other hand, supposedly did nothing other than to keep track of the locations of any new McDonalds restaurants - wait and see how well they did - and then open one of their own franchises as geographically close as possible should any turn out to be a popular location.

hmmm....

Maybe it's true the early bird catches the worm. But experience shows the tardy bird often eats just as well - and gets to sleep a lot later!

9115

Living Room / Re: The Ever-Evolving Question of Privacy

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2010, 03:38 PM »

Sorry 40hz, I wasn't directing that at you personally, nor anyone here for that matter at all.

But I fully admit that the last bit of my post does read as if it was directed at you previous post, I meant it to refer to the tone of the linked to 'Power corrupts' thread.

-Eóin (June 06, 2010, 03:21 PM)

No apologies needed.   I think we know each other well enough from seeing other posts up on the forum that neither of us would doubt each others intentions when reading one.

Besides, we're all friends here - and this is an important topic that deserves as much challenging discussion and commentary as it can get.

Also forgive me if I sounded "snarky." One of the problems with the "low bandwidth" of forum posts is how easy it is to mistake someone's passion for anger. And vice-versa.

(Maybe there's a way to color code a sentence? Red text for anger, pink italic for passion? )

 

9116

Living Room / Re: The Ever-Evolving Question of Privacy

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2010, 03:11 PM »

^I'm not "crying conspiracy." I'm simply making an observation that this particular issue is a lot less serious and deliberate than some people are making it out to be. And the recent spate of actions on the part of many governments to violate their own laws (all in the name if security) constitutes a much larger and more serious threat.

And far be it from me to defend Google. I was never a big fan of theirs.

But it should be pointed out that Google could be shut down tomorrow by any government that felt Google was exceeding it's legal sphere of activity. The same could not be said of governments should they exceed their constitutional authority.

Just my tuppence.  

edit: corrected some spelling.

 

 

9117

Living Room / Re: Is a college education worth the money?

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2010, 02:55 PM »

A much better approach would be to reintroduce apprenticeships and technical education for the people who actually want to do something with a qualification.

-Carol Haynes (June 06, 2010, 01:13 PM)

  +1

-Stoic Joker (June 06, 2010, 02:28 PM)

+1 with Carol on that from me too.

Unfortunately, my State merged (i.e. eliminated) it's Tech Colleges with it's Community Colleges as a cost saving measure many years ago. So before it could do that it would first have to bring the Tech School system back.

I'm not holding my breath.

On a positive note, some colleges have worked an apprentice program into a tri-semester setup that seems to be working quite effectively for students and their future employers.

Hope springs eternal.

9118

Living Room / Re: Only take a NO from someone who can say YES

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2010, 02:14 PM »

Far better to pre-qualify your prospects such that you only talk to the person who can say "yes" to begin with.

Old adage: Confine your sales efforts to those who are truly M.A.D.

These are the people who have the:  

Money available

Authority to make the purchase

Desire to acquire your product or service

Your sales efforts and presentation times increases dramatically each time you 'pitch' to someone who lacks one or more of the above three characteristics. And in many cases, it can even jeopardize your prospects down the road.

It's also important to realize that your presentation can only effect the level of desire to make the purchase. It has absolutely NO effect on a person's available money or authority to commit.

So be sure to do your absolute best to first determine if the purchase funds are available - or have a real possibility of being made available. Don't let unbridled optimism blind you to obvious tire-kicking, "cozy" interviews, cattle-calls, or attempts to elicit free services before an actual sale is made.

Second, be sure you are talking to the person with the authority to commit. The only reason for speaking to someone without purchase authority is if that person is genuinely acting as gatekeeper to the actual decision maker.

After that - put on your 'sales hat' and knock yourself out!

It's good advice. I cut my sales efforts in half and upped my conversion rate significantly while still reducing my company's sales lead/cycle time by pre-qualifying clients whenever possible.

Go git 'em Tiger!

9119

Living Room / Re: The Ever-Evolving Question of Privacy

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2010, 01:54 PM »

I find it particularly disingenuous that many of the governments (who routinely and secretly violate their citizen's privacy) are displaying the most outrage over this 'incident.'



I think Google is at risk of becoming the Straw Man for the bigger issue of personal privacy.

As long as people are kept screaming about Google, they'll be less inclined to notice what their governments are up to.

9120

Living Room / Re: 10 Suicides at Apple factory this year.

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2010, 01:25 PM »

Sure thing

I simply wanted to dispel the assumption the media seems to have created, that just because the incidents happened at "Apple's factory", somehow they are the bad guys, though it could have happened with any other company Foxconn works for.

-Lashiec (June 04, 2010, 04:06 PM)

I think if this had been happening at other plants, the news media would have been all over that too. But apparently that hasn't been the case. The 'problem' seems to be unusually rampant and confined to this one plant that handles Apple products.

Maybe Apple's "think different" mindset includes thinking you'd be better off dead?

--------------------

re: Steve Jobs

The Ugly American doesn't come any uglier than this guy.

I won't miss him when he's finally gone...

Spoiler

9121

Living Room / Re: Is a college education worth the money?

« Last post by 40hz on June 06, 2010, 01:05 PM »

Once again a condescending member of the "Haves" counsels all the aspiring "Have Nots" to know their place, stick with what they can obtain most readily, and dream small.

As was pointed out in the movie Caddyshack when an employee, who was bucking for a scholarship, tried to indirectly plead his case before a wealthy club member:

Danny Noonan: I planned to go to law school after I graduated, but it looks like my folks won't have enough money to put me through college.

Judge Smails: Well, the world needs ditch diggers, too.

Lacey Underall: [to Danny] Nice try...

What I find interesting is that a professor, with an economic background, completely misses the bigger question as to why the price of a college education continues to steadily climb by an order of magnitude ahead of the inflation rate. Especially in those many institutions which are not expanding in size, have little or no tax liability, virtually zero debt, and substantial portfolios and underwriting endowments.

Maybe rather than telling the masses to just go out and focus on acquiring the skills needed to "get a job," it would be better to challenge some of the questionable business assumptions (and rampant institutional egotism and greed) that has boosted the price of a college education to the point of where it's no longer economically viable for so many people?

Odd state of affairs when you think back and notice how it was viable not so very long ago.

According to FinAid.org's website:

A good rule of thumb is that tuition rates will increase at about twice the general inflation rate. During any 17-year period from 1958 to 2001, the average annual tuition inflation rate was between 6% and 9%, ranging from 1.2 times general inflation to 2.1 times general inflation. On average, tuition tends to increase about 8% per year.

Maybe it's high time people started seriously asking why.  

And even more importantly, insisting that these institutions provide meaningful answers.

9122

Living Room / Re: one a/b test shows that downloadable apps are less profitable than webapps

« Last post by 40hz on June 05, 2010, 01:12 PM »

One of the best justifications ever written for how to get around having a crappy installation routine when you are either too lazy or lack the technical expertise needed to fix it.
  

9123

Living Room / Re: iTunes Store Alternative?

« Last post by 40hz on June 04, 2010, 03:09 PM »

+1 Amazon

or possibly NetFlix if you don't insist on 'owning' your own copies.

9124

Living Room / Re: What books are you reading?

« Last post by 40hz on June 04, 2010, 08:08 AM »

[/url])[/i]
Currently reading Greg Bear's "Blood Music". I'm on a sci-fi/fantasy kick of late.

-Darwin (June 03, 2010, 03:13 PM)

Great book! And especially appropriate in the wake of some recent news coming out of the Craig Venter Institute:

First Self-Replicating Synthetic Bacterial Cell

First Self-Replicating, Synthetic Bacterial Cell Constructed by J. Craig Venter Institute Researchers

ROCKVILLE, MD and San Diego, CA (May 20, 2010)— Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI), a not-for-profit genomic research organization, published results today describing the successful construction of the first self-replicating, synthetic bacterial cell. The team synthesized the 1.08 million base pair chromosome of a modified Mycoplasma mycoides genome. The synthetic cell is called Mycoplasma mycoides JCVI-syn1.0 and is the proof of principle that genomes can be designed in the computer, chemically made in the laboratory and transplanted into a recipient cell to produce a new self-replicating cell controlled only by the synthetic genome.

This research will be published by Daniel Gibson et al in the May 20th edition of Science Express and will appear in an upcoming print issue of Science.

http://www.jcvi.org/...nstitute-researcher/

http://www.darkdaily...thetic-life-form-604

-----

Be really cool if they could relocate their facility to either the moon or the international space station until they're absolutely sure about the safety and ramifications of what they're doing. From the documentary running on the Science Channel, it doesn't look like they practice a high degree of containment at their labs. No 'bunny suits' or isolation rooms to be seen anywhere. And the staff gets to go home at night so there's also that vector for something getting out.

from Jurassic Park -"Broadly speaking, the ability of the park is to control the spread of life forms. Because the history of evolution is that life escapes all barriers. Life breaks free. Life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously. But life finds a way." Malcolm shook his head. "I don't mean to be philosophical, but there it is."

Sorry if I sound paranoid. But in the wake of Three Mile Island, the Exxon Valdez, Chernobyl and BP's latest fiasco in the Gulf, I'm no longer comforted when an expert says "Trust us! We've though of everything that could possibly go wrong - and planned for it."

 

9125

Living Room / Re: Hyper Realism

« Last post by 40hz on June 04, 2010, 07:51 AM »

And also a little disturbing at times.

But I guess that's part of what it's trying to do.