Recent Posts

926

General Software Discussion / Re: XP's slow death is approaching, according to Microsoft's timeline

« Last post by Lashiec on March 25, 2008, 08:06 PM »

No, no, don't worry, XP is not going anywhere, this is the same old story that already happened with Windows 98 and the like. After all, XP could probably become the second flow of Windows revenue besides Vista thanks to a certain Taiwanese company who assembled a tiny computer that sells for less than $400, had a success with it, and now it's going to release a second version of this small laptop with Windows XP running on it.

And just like Asus did it first, so are other competitors going to do the same in the following months, so it would be quite foolish on Microsoft's part to kill a operating system that is starting to increase its market share again (how ironic). I mean, they want to stop Linux and at the same time, try to erode the increasing Mac market-share. I guess the two OSs are going to coexist until Windows 7 is released and even beyond. Who know, maybe Vista will get killed before XP, now that could be funny ;D

927

General Software Discussion / Re: Open Source Sorftware Security

« Last post by Lashiec on March 24, 2008, 07:48 PM »

BTW, Foxit is closed source, despite being free. I'd say that open source software is as or more secure than its commercial counterparts, look no further than Firefox (if you don't compare it with IE, that is), and the most important enterprises in the world use OSS for their needs, ranging from typical consumer software, to much more complex software like the Apache Web Server, MySQL or the same Linux.

Of course, people has suffered from malware using open source software, but most of the times that happens because the usual defenses are not in place, that includes unpatched software, lack of practise with skeptical computing (first section), not having basic security software, etc. The same thing happens everyday with closed source software.

928

Living Room / Re: Restating Godwin's Law

« Last post by Lashiec on March 24, 2008, 07:30 PM »

I guess SQL Notes always comes into play just because people like the program. After all, its development killed the other monster thread that (ironically) superboyac started, so it must be THE notetaker.

And look, sooner or later most members chime in with their favourite application into a thread (like I usually do with Opera or foobar2000 or...), and a little threadjacking is expected. As long as the thread doesn't evolve into a spinoff of the main SQL Notes thread (AFAIK that only happened once recently), I don't see a problem. Besides, the level of topic derailment in this forum is lower that in other sites :P

929

General Software Discussion / Re: Looking for Windows Software with Apple like user interface

« Last post by Lashiec on March 24, 2008, 07:16 PM »

*cough* Cue flame war *cough*

I don't really get the part "Apple like easy interface". Can you elaborate? If you're referring to very graphical interfaces, with little interaction for most functions, I guess something like TuneUp Utilities or certain security suites are like that. Perhaps Paint.NET could fit that category as well, despite being an image editor, it's a real joy to use, and it has an easy learning curve. To learn where everything is located and handle the basic functions, that is, artistic abilities are not included :-)

930

General Software Discussion / Re: Stellent viewers.. what exactly are they?

« Last post by Lashiec on March 24, 2008, 10:53 AM »

Darwin usually raves about them, so I'm sure he can tell you more about the viewers. My guess is that it's something akin to the old QuickView in the older versions of Windows. Actually...

Multiview is an Opus plugin, but it doesn't do anything without the Stellent viewers, which are available in a number of ways (as part of QuickViewPlus, as part of PowerDesk, as part of Yahoo Desktop Search, and as part of the X1 stuff.) How you obtain them is up to you. I've heard that you can make a copy of the Filters folder and then uninstall the actual X1 software, but whether it works or not I couldn't say.

-the DOpus forum

... so they must QuickView successors. I like to know where do they come from though...

931

General Software Discussion / Re: Does KGB Archiver really achieve high compression rates?

« Last post by Lashiec on March 24, 2008, 10:34 AM »

I used the word scam because I heard about it on forums with claims of near 1% compression ratios. But in fairness those claims were being made by others, it's own website doesn't make such a claim so I've changed the title of the thread as to not imply deceit on the developers part.

-Eóin (March 24, 2008, 04:29 AM)

Yeah, I read that somewhere recently and I was all like "WTF?". It's hard to go beyond current compression ratios, and with modern technology (and specialized algorithms for certain data like tinjaw mentions), it's not worth the work of creating a new scheme, and waste tons of CPU time just to squeeze a few megabytes.

I remember that a friend showed me a couple of years ago a super-compressed package of data whose creators claimed impressive ratios, but at the cost of really long decompression times (which I witnessed first hand). Now, if I could remember where did it come from...

932

General Software Discussion / Re: Monster Cables- The World should know!

« Last post by Lashiec on March 23, 2008, 12:34 PM »

Er, because it's easier for everyone and provides definitive answers, as audiophiles tend to base their ideas on audio quality on what they "hear" (and they spend and read and... well, you get the point), setting aside any possible technical explanation.

933

General Software Discussion / Re: Monster Cables- The World should know!

« Last post by Lashiec on March 23, 2008, 12:16 PM »

Hehe, if this was Hydrogenaudio, Curt would have been issued a TOS#8 warning long ago . So I say we should rename the page: "DonationAudiophile.com: For true audio connoisseurs!", and buy Cody some headphones

Given all this, it's clear to me that the burden of proof lies with Monster and the audiophiles. If there's any problem with off-the-shelf cables, conduct a test and show the result.

-CWuestefeld (March 23, 2008, 10:05 AM)

This is true, the best way to find out if what you affirm is to conduct a blind-listening test, it shouldn't be very difficult, although of course, you'll need some person assembling the cables and all that.

934

JGPaiva's GridMove and Ahk Tools / Re: Gridmove Source Code

« Last post by Lashiec on March 21, 2008, 01:19 PM »

Hmm, I wonder why the files that come with the ZIP are compressed using the LZMA method. That's the compression scheme 7Z format uses as a default, AFAIK there's no way to create a ZIP file that way. Anyway, that's why none of those mentioned apps can open it. Use a recent version of 7-Zip or WinRAR or <insert your favourite compression app here capable of handling the 7-Zip format> and you'll be safe.

Or bug jgpaiva to recompress the files using the Deflate algorithm

935

General Software Discussion / Re: What’s this "Linux" thing and why should i try it?

« Last post by Lashiec on March 21, 2008, 01:03 PM »

Talking about tips sites, the Linux section of the Scot's Newsletter forums has a really nice list of useful tricks for those approaching Linux for the first time authored by the resident Linux expert there.

936

Living Room / Re: a 3D game that is only 97kb!

« Last post by Lashiec on March 21, 2008, 12:59 PM »

Lashiec, where'd you get the demo and what is your systems like?

-lanux128 (March 20, 2008, 09:19 PM)

If you're referring to .kkrieger, well, you know where to get it . If you talk about Assassin's Creed, AFAIK Ubi Soft didn't release any demo for the PC for now.

937

Living Room / Re: a 3D game that is only 97kb!

« Last post by Lashiec on March 20, 2008, 12:15 PM »

The first published system requirements of Assassin's Creed were so insane, and there was so much bashing on the Internet, that it's only natural they tried to best them. 3 gigs? WTF, not even other open world games requires that (Crysis, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., etc.)

Its a good game. but whenever someone in the world make a bootable PC OS Game Console, that would probably insane 

-psionics (March 20, 2008, 02:48 AM)

Actually, Acer is thinking in something along the lines.

Going back to the topic at hand, I finally played it a few days ago (after weeks of sitting in my HDD), and while it's a nice demo, I had to restart the game 4 times due to bugs, I kept getting trapped in the most weird places.

938

Living Room / Re: Poo time?

« Last post by Lashiec on March 19, 2008, 11:35 AM »

Er... you sure they didn't get the story from The Onion, and not from The Register? It sounds so incredibly silly, it can't be true.

Then again, people is so weird sometimes

939

Living Room / Re: The upside-down-ternet

« Last post by Lashiec on March 18, 2008, 08:56 PM »

Be sure to read the entire XKCD story inspired by this article. Hilarious! (and insanely geeky as well )

940

Living Room / Re: TV Characters -- Love / Hate -- By Show

« Last post by Lashiec on March 18, 2008, 08:37 PM »

Hehehe Deozaan

I LOVE Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan in (of course) Bones, for being such an unique character in TV series, but I don't think I hate any character in there, all of them are lovable. I also love much of the characters in Futurama, particularly Dr. Zoidberg, but I hate Hermes, just like many other people, it's just such a dull character...

Just like ljbirns, I also like Greg House, but I prefer Dr. Cameron, I think it's because we share some traits (no, being a gorgeous-looking woman it's not one of them ). That's all the ones I can remember off the top of my head, I might add some more later, as other DCers share more of their favourite characters

941

Living Room / Re: Mobo Mystery

« Last post by Lashiec on March 18, 2008, 08:19 PM »

Perhaps it's time to either send an e-mail to the Phoenix support team or open a thread in the Asus support forums... although... wait, this thread in Techspot seems to have a possible solution (or maybe you already checked it and couldn't solve the problem anyway).

EDIT: Little rewriting

942

Living Room / Re: Mobo Mystery

« Last post by Lashiec on March 18, 2008, 10:22 AM »

Hmmm, it's amazing how little information Award provides on its own BIOS. Might this help? I guess that since Phoenix bought Award, this could be of some help as well.

A quick Google search seems to confirm you're not alone...

943

Living Room / Re: My Taskbar Notification Area Competition

« Last post by Lashiec on March 15, 2008, 12:08 PM »

OK, kartal, you winz the thread. Your taskbar is making my head spin. app's taskbar is doing the same, but at least she is hiding it . And I see f0dder likes Evangelion

The taskbar area (new Windows style pending™). Wordzilla, say hi to the audience



Usually, only the 7 last icons are those running at all times, the rest appear from time to time (that's the beauty of FARR + lean software + somewhat powerful computer )

From left to right: Screenshot Captor, µTorrent, Miranda IM, Rainlendar, AM-Notebook, Locate32, KeePass, foobar2000, Ethernet Port #2, Ethernet Port #1, Find and Run Robot, Windows Defender, avast! Antivirus.

944

General Software Discussion / Re: What’s this "Linux" thing and why should i try it?

« Last post by Lashiec on March 14, 2008, 07:53 PM »

I'm taking my GNU and going home now...
 

-Edvard (March 13, 2008, 02:50 PM)

OK, we accept the Tux Droid as a pet

945

Living Room / Re: Top 50 Dystopian movies

« Last post by Lashiec on March 14, 2008, 07:44 PM »

How many have you seen?

-Edvard (March 14, 2008, 01:50 PM)

A few, that's why after reading:

Or should I say "Damn you for mentioning this list of films, because now I'll have to add them to my personal DVD shopping list! You'll ruin me...." :p

-TucknDar (March 14, 2008, 02:19 PM)

I'm doing the same *cough*. Seriously, thanks for the list, there are quite some jewels in there. Bookmarked.

...and some made the list that were, um... unwelcome.

-Edvard (March 14, 2008, 04:30 PM)

Yeah, Battle Royale is doing nothing there.

946

General Software Discussion / Re: Drop Box lands

« Last post by Lashiec on March 13, 2008, 09:58 AM »

Looks interesting. I always wanted a backup service that lets me upload files directly from any file manager, with no browser involved. That said, I think I'll wait 'til it gets a bit more 'real'

947

General Software Discussion / Re: Has the browser become more important than the OS?

« Last post by Lashiec on March 13, 2008, 09:44 AM »

I live in my browser, but let's face it, so far, the Web 2.0 is not going to where their supporters want it to go. I remember reading that Vista would be the last BIG OS from Microsoft, and that the next version would be more centered in the web, as the world was moving there.

Until now, nothing has moved to web, and despite the mass media constantly repeating the desktop app (and the PC as well) is dead, and the future is a thin client (this brings back a strong resemblance of the Java craze back in the 90s), the only thing the Web 2.0 is offering is tons of services for social interaction, and for more exotic needs (just take a look at the participants in the latest TechCrunch40). Lots of services are launched everyday, venture capital is coming from god-knows-where, and 99% of those do not have a chance to actually being noticed before being swallowed by some big company (which, incidentally, uses to be centered around the "old" paradigm) for an insane amount of cash. I'm wondering if we're in the middle of another bubble...

Instead of creating useful services to replace desktop apps, and thus make some chores less tiresome, I see that startups are creating other needs to be fulfilled (just thinking in the new Twitter fad), which means we're not going anywhere (actually, the best way to update your Twitter is using desktop apps!). As you may expect, most of these services will go either unnoticed or face a slow death. Let's not even talk about the technical aspects of a future computer experience based on the cloud, just like you guys mention, it's nearly unfeasible, and pretty stupid on part of those proposing it, primarily because of connection limitations (the majority of the people isn't connected through a T1 connection, much more the opposite), security considerations, etc.

Fortunately, we also has some real options. Google, for example, has created really robust services, which truly act as a substitute of desktop apps, and so are doing Yahoo! or Microsoft. We also have other important services, like Last.FM, Flickr or Zoho, which cover other particular needs of people. I said it some other time, the computing world is going towards synergy between the web and the desktop, which is fantastic. Both are different paradigms, with their good and bad things, so that's why there's no such thing as the replacement of one by the other, some things are done better in a browser, others in a desktop. The combination of the two is where the power resides, and fortunately some people is noticing this (like the Mozilla guys with their Prism project).

Perhaps for people with simple needs when it comes computing (mail, web browsing, IM, etc.), a web-based experience could be enough, but even then, I'm sure at some point they'll want to do something else, and they'll have to resort to desktop computing.

</Web 2.0 rant>

PD: Also one thing that bugs me. Web services are constantly changing, but unless someone is reporting what changes are introduced (either someone from the company or an external person), every time they do that, and you log in to your account, you have to rediscover the site again, because it's not only that they introduced new functionality, but also they changed the place where things used to be. The primary example is PhotoBucket, which has changed 4 times during a 6-month span, breaking my old use habits, and forcing me to relearn where things are located.

948

Living Room / Re: Music industry sue broadband provider.

« Last post by Lashiec on March 12, 2008, 07:44 PM »

Yeah, some groups have been experimenting with new models of business as lately. Marillion financed the marketing campaign for their 2004 album "Marbles" thanks to the pre-orders placed by fans. They do not have any major label supporting them, as they decided the only way to true artistic freedom was to cut off any chain with music corporations.

Some other artists are also navigating the seas of the indie labels, or even self-publishing, including some major ones, like Madonna, Paul McCartney or John Fogerty. It's also said U2 will say goodbye to Universal, though in this case, I hope they opt for wide musical distribution that does not involve partnering with certain company located in Cupertino (the same goes for Tori Amos, etc.)

949

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Specialized anti-idle and 'modem booster'

« Last post by Lashiec on March 12, 2008, 07:31 PM »

app, the modem booster ;)

950

General Software Discussion / Re: New Google "search site" box, but not yet from my pc?

« Last post by Lashiec on March 12, 2008, 07:23 PM »

Because Microsoft's internal search is horrible at locating its own information.  Google does a much better job.

-Veign (March 12, 2008, 06:22 PM)

Hahahaha! I hope Live Search is not doing the same with the Internet