Recent Posts

976

Developer's Corner / Re: wanted: windows command line executable to convert EOL CR<->CRLF

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 30, 2010, 12:00 PM »

It's been a while since I needed to use this kind of utility, but here's a pointer to one (that I haven't tested) that comes with source, so if you have any problems, you can fix them:

  - http://www.xs4all.nl...terlan/dos2unix.html

977

General Software Discussion / Re: What is your preferred font?

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 30, 2010, 12:53 AM »

mwb1100; your's are fine.
But what font do you have for default in that browser?

-Curt (May 29, 2010, 12:36 PM)

My screenshot was from FireFox 3.6.3.  The Default font is "Times New Roman", size 16.  In the 'Advanced' font dialog, the following options are set:

    - Proportional: Serif
    - Serif:        Times New Roman
    - Sans-serif:   Arial
    - Monospace:    Courier New

And "Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of my selections above" is checked.

I think that the page is choosing its own font - browsers typically use the font specified by the web page, unless that font isn't installed on the system. Actually, web pages can specify a set of acceptable fonts or font-families, and the browser will choose the first match (if possible).  Only if no match is found will it end up using the default.

My CSS skills are pretty sketchy, but from what I can tell, it looks like that webpage is specifying that one of the following fonts be used (in order of preference):

  - Helvetica, Arial, "Liberation Sans", "Bitstream Vera Sans", sans-serif

My Vista system doesn't have a "Helvetica" font, but all Windows systems do (or should) have "Arial". Maybe your system has a font named "Helvetica" installed that doesn't work as well as Arial for this page?

978

General Software Discussion / Re: What is your preferred font?

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 29, 2010, 12:29 PM »

[hint] It would be interesting to see what that page looks like in other peoples' browser [/hint]
Wold you people care to take a similar screenshot and upload it, please?

-Curt (May 28, 2010, 05:58 AM)

This is on a Vista laptop with ClearType enabled:



Though I can't say it's the nicest font, the rendering looks fine to me...

979

Circle Dock / Re: PCMag.com "Give Windows 7 a Facelift" Yes: We're in there!!!

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 18, 2010, 04:42 PM »

Congrats!

Minus the "Starduck" stuff, that I am diabolically opposed to

-sgtevmckay (May 17, 2010, 05:00 PM)

Not quite satisfied with being diametrically opposed to them, eh?

980

Living Room / Re: Identity Theft OFFLINE - Get ready to be VERY scared

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 13, 2010, 05:04 PM »

All those overpriced wipe utilities and "features" will soon be available free of charge from the printer manufacturers. But not before some twit on TV tries to sell everybody one for $100.

-40hz (May 13, 2010, 07:00 AM)

Well, here's what I want - a stand-alone gizmo that will plug into an IDE or SATA drive and wipe the thing by just pressing a button.  I have drives that aren't housed in a computer (or worse, the computer they're in is kaput), and I'd like an easy way to wipe them without having to futz around getting them into (or just hooked up to) a working computer to get them wiped.  That's more pain that I'd lke to go through, and even when I actually do it (it's made much easier with one of those USB to IDE/SATA adapters), I'm always deathly afraid that I'm going to select the wrong item or option and wipe a drive that I'd really rather keep the data from (for some reason, when I find myself doing this kind of thing it's usually at 2am, which probably isn't very smart...).

And I don't really trust a service that claims to do this. I'd imagine to myself that I'd hand over a bunch of drives and $40 per drive to get them cleaned, and the drives would just end up going right into a dumpster.

It seems to me that all that needs to be done is have a small ARM microcontroller embedded in something much like one of those USB to IDE/SATA adapters, give it the right firmware and a power plug and - bam! a gizmo that that'll wipe a drive at the press of a button for less than $100.  I'd buy something like that for my own piece of mind (definitely for $50).  

If someone out there is aware of such a device, let me know.

If not, maybe I'll be able to make some time for a project (chances of that happening by the time the Sun collapses - pretty near zero).

981

Living Room / Re: Company releases cracked version of their game rather than recompile it

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 13, 2010, 04:50 PM »

So can the 'pirate' issue some sort of copyright violation takedown order? 

982

Living Room / Re: Identity Theft OFFLINE - Get ready to be VERY scared

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 12, 2010, 11:03 PM »

I think that down deep on some level I knew that copiers had some capabilities like this. I remember when I was still working we got Canon copiers that were connected to our company network; we could scan documents to PDF and distribute/email them right from the machines. I just never considered the personal privacy risks inherent.

-J-Mac (May 12, 2010, 10:22 PM)

My thoughts exactly - and I'll tell you what, if the tech-savvy people here seem to be unaware of this, I have to believe that far more than 60% of Americans are unaware of this issue.

983

Living Room / Re: A really cool modern visual illusion

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 07, 2010, 11:09 PM »

Hey - while checking out various optical illusions and what-not  because of what mouser posted, I found a curious little Windows hotkey that you might find interesting...

Press: Ctrl-Alt-Down.

On some machines (this might be WinXP only and might depend on your video driver), you'll get plenty of-mouser-style illusions...

984

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

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 06, 2010, 04:33 PM »

I think JavaJones and Carol have hit on the big 2 reasons for the high incarceration rate in the US: the War on Drugs and law enforcement as an economic force (which goes far beyond prisons as business). I think both are an outgrowth of the 'military-industrial complex' that has grown in the US since the end of WWII.

Hey - how's that for thread drift...?

985

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your preferred File Manager

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 06, 2010, 12:56 AM »

Any software author that won't listen to the suggestions of his users...

-Innuendo (May 05, 2010, 09:22 PM)

DonL does a whole lot of listening and acting on the wishes of users. I'd say far more than most other software companies or authors I've dealt with.

That's not to say he accepts all suggestions (or criticisms), and I can see how someone might consider some responses rude, but on the whole I don't think that's the case.  And like I said, he's willing to be convinced and will change his mind without reservation when convinced.

Of course, if he rubs you the wrong way, it's certainly your right to decide not to give him your business. I just don't want others who read the message to be left with the impression that he doesn't act on suggestions. That is not the case.

986

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

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 04, 2010, 04:23 PM »

Professor Green mentions several reasons for the apparent sympathy for Hogan and Chen:

  - the "finders keepers" confusion
  - protection for "investigative journalists"
  - a David/Goliath sympathy
  - the idea that "information wants to be free"
 
While I understand that California's protection for investigative journalism might not apply to this case (for various legal reasons), I still do have leaning toward protecting journalists.  I know that many people might not consider Gizmodo bloggers to be jouralists, but I think I would.

But even accepting that the protections don't apply here, I still feel (note the word 'feel' rather than 'think') that the police actions were more than necessary. That feeling can probably be ascribed most accurately to something like envy (closely related to the David/Goliath feelings Green mentions).  I can't help but think that if something valuable to me were found/stolen and I told the police who I thought had the item that I'd get not much more than a cop knocking on that person's door as an investigation.  I guess that I'm just jealous that Apple gets a full blown bash-the-door-in raid.

987

General Software Discussion / Re: What's your preferred File Manager

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 04, 2010, 01:24 PM »

but the manner in which he interacts with people that don't have the same vision.

-wraith808 (May 04, 2010, 01:07 PM)

I understand that part of this may be a difference in the communications style of Germans vs. whoever else (Americans?).  There might also be nuances that don't translate well from his native German to English.

Or Don may simply be difficult.

But one thing is also clear - Don is quite willing to change his mind about things, though it may take some work to convince him.  He's done so on such items as dual pane support for XY or even whether a user on the forum should be banned or considered an asset to the forum community.

988

Living Room / Re: KVM switch woes -- any recommendations?

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 03, 2010, 10:17 PM »

I'm using an IOGEAR GCS634U KVM and I've been happy with it, but I wouldn't call myself an extensive user - there are 3 machines plugged in to it, but 2 are server-type machines that pretty much run themselves.  I only have to switch to them occasionally for a reboot or other infrequent maintenance, and even then I use remote control software RDP or VNC more often than the KVM. But there are times when the KVM is really necessary (like you need to do something early in the boot process).  If push came to shove, I could crawl around and plug in a monitor, etc. for those times when remote control won't do, but I really hate doing that (my cabling is a real rat's nest).

Synergy wouldn't work for my set up as the machines don't have their own monitors.

989

General Software Discussion / Re: HowTo repair/replace tcpip.sys ?

« Last post by mwb1100 on May 01, 2010, 10:43 PM »

I don't think it's a good idea generally to try to replace a core driver like tcpip.sys on your own - it should be updated as part of an update package or Service Pack.

If you look at this list of versions of tcpip.sys:

  - http://www.mskbfiles.com/tcpip.sys.php
 
you'll see that there are many versions that have been released after the one you have (6.0.6001.18377). Note that the ones with a version starting 6.1 are for Windows 7.  I think that the ones starting with 6.0.6002 are for SP2 or updates to SP2.  So if you're still on SP1 and don't want to move to SP2, you might want to look at the hotfix for KB979223 which has a very recent SP1 version of tcpip.sys (6.0.6001.22659):

  - http://support.micro...79223&kbln=en-us
 
Note that it's a hotfix, which is not as well supported/tested by Microsoft as service packs or updates that get pushed down with Windows Update.  So before trying the hotfix, you might want to make sure you have all available updates from Windows Update, or you might want to consider installing SP2.

990

Living Room / Re: In the "What the Hell?" department...

« Last post by mwb1100 on April 30, 2010, 01:48 AM »

I'd keep in mind a couple things:  we're talking about cub scouts (around 4th grade or younger), not boy scouts,  and that cub scouts is supposed to be fun in addition to other things that might be part of scouting.

Now, I certainly wouldn't care if this particular award were dropped, but neither do I think it's a sign the empire is falling.

They might want to drop the 'Marbles' award first though (I imagine that one has been around for a while).

991

Living Room / Re: In the "What the Hell?" department...

« Last post by mwb1100 on April 29, 2010, 10:29 AM »

Maybe it easy to poke fun at this, and it might seem ridiculous on it's face, but...

1) gaming is important to kids today (as well as non-kids) - there's no reason to pretend that it's not
2) if you look at the requirements for the awards (and note that these are for the younger cub scouts), you may understand some of what they might be trying to teach the kids.

I'm not even a gamer, so I'm not sure why I'm defending this...

992

General Software Discussion / Re: Here we go again with false positive antivirus actions bricking computers

« Last post by mwb1100 on April 22, 2010, 03:52 PM »

Here's my patent-pending idea for AV companies to help solve at least some of these problems... never automatically delete any file properly signed by Microsoft.  You might even want to make it difficult to allow the user to initiate a delete operation on such a file.  Maybe have malware detected in such a file initiate a report to your tech support - either the user's computer is totally owned by malware, the malware detection has a significant flaw, or Microsoft has screwed something up royally.

Any of these 3 situations warrants careful consideration of the proper next steps, not just a blind delete (or even quarantine, in my opinion).

993

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: WinPatrol PLUS at 50% off until April 7

« Last post by mwb1100 on April 20, 2010, 12:21 AM »

WinPatrol cannot run together with Outpost Security Suite.    I have both 

-Curt (March 30, 2010, 05:59 AM)

I have both as well - haven't noticed any particular problems.

994

General Software Discussion / Re: Alternatives to AnVir Task Manager

« Last post by mwb1100 on April 18, 2010, 11:15 PM »

Another nice thing about Win Patrol Plus is that you can use it on all your computers, and once you've bought the Plus version, ALL upgrades are free.

-cyberdiva (April 18, 2010, 07:07 PM)

And it's half price at the moment (18 April 2010) on BDJ: http://www.bitsdujou...ware/winpatrol-plus/

995

Living Room / Re: How one very smart woman found a way to help save lives at a cost of $3

« Last post by mwb1100 on April 16, 2010, 07:26 PM »

Hey - so *that's* where my toilet plunger went!

More seriously - I agree 100%- and I don't think being a doctoral student takes anything away from this.  My major contribution to good works is occasionally making sure my neighbor's garage door gets closed at night when she accidentally leaves it open.

I only wish I could do as much good as Zurovcik.

996

General Software Discussion / Re: Alternatives to Daemon Tools?

« Last post by mwb1100 on April 14, 2010, 02:06 PM »

FWIW, a portable solution is Microsoft's Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel. It's old & clunky, and only supports a few formats, but I've used it several times and it works.

-twinkler (April 13, 2010, 02:06 PM)

Unfortunately, another drawback is that it doesn't work on 64 bit systems...

I don't know why MS doesn't have this baked into the OS by now (though maybe it does and I don't know about it since I'm still on WinXP).

997

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sagelight Image Editor - pay what you want promo (Apil 2010)

« Last post by mwb1100 on April 09, 2010, 11:55 PM »

FWIW (I know nothing about the program except that it was mentioned in this thread), Helicon Filter will be 50% off  ($37.50) on Bits du Jour in 3 days (12 April 2010):

  - http://www.bitsdujou...ware/helicon-filter/

998

Living Room / Re: File Size vs. Size on Disk: Why such a difference?

« Last post by mwb1100 on April 08, 2010, 12:39 AM »

Realize that each file will fill all clusters it uses except the last cluster (which might be full, but generally won't be).  If we assume that each file will use on average only half of the last cluster, we come up with the following guesstimate for 'wasted space'

    32768/2 * 16047 = 262,914,048 wasted bytes

Still not accounting for all the waste that you're apparently seeing, but I'd suspect that the true numbers skew toward more files that use far less than a cluster (I think of the files that use only a single cluster, there are far more that use less than half than those that use more than half).

Also, this doesn't account for the waste used by directories (which if I recall, are allocated clusters similarly to files except for the root directory), which would bring us up to close to about 300MB of wasted space.

This analysis hasn't account for all the waste you're seeing, but we're less than a factor of 2 away...

999

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Ad Muncher On Sale at Bits duJor Wednesday, March 31, 2010

« Last post by mwb1100 on April 01, 2010, 02:07 PM »

Just out of curiosity, which security suite were you able to get a lifetime license for?  That's a great deal.

-superboyac (April 01, 2010, 09:35 AM)

I'm not Innuendo, but I got a lifetime license for Agnitum's Outpost Security Suite when they ran a offer for it around the beginning of 2009 (this might also be what Innuendo was referring to).  As far as I know that offer isn't currently available, but they are currently offering lifetime licenses on the firewall-only Outpost product: http://www.agnitum.c...ts/outpost/index.php

1000

C / C++ / Re: C++ Programming Resources

« Last post by mwb1100 on March 25, 2010, 10:29 PM »

Maybe this isn't the right place to ask, but does anyone have a a more recent opinion on a good C++ IDE/Compiler?

-Deozaan (March 25, 2010, 07:02 PM)

I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet, but if you're looking for something on Windows MS has the free Express versions of Visual Studio, including one for C++:

  - http://www.microsoft...ads/#2008-Visual-CPP

Right now it's VS2008-based, but in a month or so it should be switched over to the VS 2010 version. There are some limitations:

  - http://stackoverflow...editions/86614#86614

but if you're just starting out or aren't impacted by the limitations, it's a very nice IDE. For C++ the big limitation is lack of support for MFC/ATL. There are some hacks for getting those libraries working (by downloading the driver kit, which has some support for them), but I'd say you might want to consider something like Qt instead and skip MFC altogether.

Speaking of Qt - I've never used their IDE, but I've heard good things about it:

  - http://qt.nokia.com/...33932297b1e065a976b8