Tech Geek Thread Do-Over

[jessecuster]

Ok Apple people, this one is for you. My car was broken into and they stole my I-Pod car charger. My I-Pod is the second generation one with the real fire wire port on it. I have been looking for a replacement charger, but I cannot even find it on ebay. Any suggestions ? Or even recommendations for online stores that I can buy legacy products from ?

[Typo Lad]

Ok Apple people, this one is for you. My car was broken into and they stole my I-Pod car charger. My I-Pod is the second generation one with the real fire wire port on it. I have been looking for a replacement charger, but I cannot even find it on ebay. Any suggestions ? Or even recommendations for online stores that I can buy legacy products from ?

First off, sorry to hear that.

Do the following search sting on ebay "ipod 2g charger car" and you'll find a TON of them.

[jessecuster]

wow thanks, I was searching on ebay under Monster Car Charger(my old one) and I-Pod 2nd generation or gen car charger and getting nothing for results.

they also took my cassette adapter which I replaced yesterday and my cell phone car charger, who steals cables ?!?!?!

[TheLewisShow]

It's plenty for me. Although like Gordon, I'm not exactly a gamer. (tabletops for me, please)

Heck, I'm even seeing some high end gaming require 2gb of memory. That is just unreal considering the memory my first computer had!

[Typo Lad]

Screw games... The current flock OS's won't run with less than 128 MB, and even then you get sluggish performance!

I've gotten Mac OS X to run with a mere 136 MB of RAM on a Revision A iMac, but it ran slow as mollases and you couldn't really multitask. 256 actually fixed that.

I just won't run a machine without at least 512 these days. My laptop is the exception, because laptop ram is so expensive.

[TheLewisShow]

Screw games... The current flock OS's won't run with less than 128 MB, and even then you get sluggish performance!

I've gotten Mac OS X to run with a mere 136 MB of RAM on a Revision A iMac, but it ran slow as mollases and you couldn't really multitask. 256 actually fixed that.

I just won't run a machine without at least 512 these days. My laptop is the exception, because laptop ram is so expensive.

Especially Apple ram.

Morts have you ever purchased memory say from crucial.net for your Mac? I hear it's a lot cheaper, but I've never really checked.

[west3man]

Especially Apple ram.

Morts have you ever purchased memory say from crucial.net for your Mac? I hear it's a lot cheaper, but I've never really checked.
I've never purchased "Apple RAM", but I've purchased sd cards and (pc-)RAM from them. Great deals there.

In fact, I think I remember howyadoin saying he saw some great prices on MAC-friendly RAM there, as well. He said it in this thread, if you wanna look it up.

[TheLewisShow]

I've never purchased "Apple RAM", but I've purchased sd cards and (pc-)RAM from them. Great deals there.

In fact, I think I remember howyadoin saying he saw some great prices on MAC-friendly RAM there, as well. He said it in this thread, if you wanna look it up.

Which is probably where I read it, now that I think about it..hmmm.

Yes, I've purchased memory from crucial myself..very good experience with them.


Now I just have to sit and quietly wait for those 1TB hard drives (http://board.iexbeta.com/index.php?showtopic=53665) to be manufactured.

[Typo Lad]

Especially Apple ram.

Morts have you ever purchased memory say from crucial.net for your Mac? I hear it's a lot cheaper, but I've never really checked.

In fact, I only buy from Crucial. Great prices and 99.9% of the time they have free shipping.

[Typo Lad]

In fact, I think I remember howyadoin saying he saw some great prices on MAC-friendly RAM there, as well. He said it in this thread, if you wanna look it up.

Um, yes...and as I recall, i was the one who told him to check there.

*whistles*

[howyadoin]

Um, yes...and as I recall, i was the one who told him to check there.

*whistles*You recall correctly. It saved me almost $500CAN.

[Typo Lad]

You recall correctly. It saved me almost $500CAN.

Ah.

So I am, in fact, da' man.

[west3man]

Um, yes...and as I recall, i was the one who told him to check there.

*whistles*
. . . .

[meethraa]

Quick and simple question: First time you connect your ipod to a PC, is it supposed to flash the "don't disconnect" sign for a looong time while nothing else seems to be happening? What's that about? Formating the disk? It wouldn't do that without asking, right?

[howyadoin]

Quick and simple question: First time you connect your ipod to a PC, is it supposed to flash the "don't disconnect" sign for a looong time while nothing else seems to be happening? What's that about? Formating the disk? It wouldn't do that without asking, right?It'll flash the "don't disconnect" warning as long as the iPod is mounted.

[meethraa]

It'll flash the "don't disconnect" warning as long as the iPod is mounted.
So you just ignore the warning and disconnect it anyway?

[howyadoin]

So you just ignore the warning and disconnect it anyway?Um, no. Can you see the iPod on your desktop? (I obviously don't speak PC, but I'm tryin'.)

On a Mac, you select the Pod (the computer sees it as an external disk), and eject it. Then it's safe to disconnect it.



If that doesn't help, there might be more info here (http://www.ipodlounge.com/index.php/faqs).

[meethraa]

Ah, thanks. I must've forgotten to restart the pc after installing the software because I couldn't access any ipod options. I restarted it now and will try again...

[west3man]

I dropped the Treo when I wasn't feeling well last week. The sum-gun fell from my hip straight to the parking lot. LAWD.

That's the worst fall, yet. Nice lil dings in the case, but the Treo, itself, remained untouched. Awesome.

That case was a great buy. Highly recommended.

[west3man]

I was up at 3:45am, again. I decided to stop slackin' and balance my freakin' checkbook. I prefer to do it at home because, even though I love that the Treo has a QWERTY keyboard, I can use the PDA Desktop software to create/edit files, then just update the Treo with the changes.

It was a bit of a pain accounting for that last 57 cents, but it showed me where I had room for improvement when it comes to documenting.

Anyway, I thought I'd mention that capability so folks didn't think EVERYTHING had to be done using the QWERTY keyboard (although I usually do, anyway).

[DrewTheXenocide]

Gawd, I hope it's alright posting this here, since it seems mostly hard-ware type stuff is discussed here. But, does anybody know of any good (and free!) screencap software? I wanna practice making .gif files outta the movie files I have on my compy. Anyone know?

[west3man]

Morts, I dunno if I mentioned it, but I can use the Treo to access the CBR chatroom - in a limited way, at least.

Since the browser, Blazer, doesn't support frames, it was less-than-perfect. However, it loads the page with the "post" field, I type whatever, click "post" or send or whatever, then it posts my message into the chatroom... AND allows me to see what's going on. If I want to keep watching, I think I just refresh periodically. Sometimes, I go back to the first "page" and type "." or something to let it refresh on its own.

Anyway, I wasn't sure I mentioned it before, so...

[west3man]

Are any of you familiar with the Averatec 6100 laptop?

I've found a new one and wondered if anyone could give me a thumbs-up or thumbs-down on the model.

Thanks, in advance.

[west3man]

I could use some advice.

Although none of you are apparently familiar with the Averatec laptop models, I was hoping you might help me with a comparison.

One model has an 80GB harddrive, a 4x DVD-burner (-/+R,-/+RW)

The other model has a 60GB harddrive, a 2x DVD-burner (-/+R,-/+RW),... WITH a portable dvd player mode which allows you to play about 3 dvd's, consecutively, before battery power runs out!!!

:(

DVD burning speed is kinda crucial, considering how long it takes, even at 4x speeds... but that portabe dvd player mode REALLY helps me cost-justify that bad-boy!

HELP?!

They're both 15.x inch screens, btw.

[Typo Lad]

Well, think of it this way...

Assming an average DVD time of 90 minutes, that's a 270 minute battery on average. That's four and a half hours. Quite and impressive battery life.

However...

1) How often do you go on trips as long as that? On a plane, couldn't you just bring your portable DVD player?

2) Eventually, that battery life will get shorter. You have to decide if a temporary larger battery is worth more than twice the DVD burning speed and 20 more gig of HD space.

3) What's cheaper, the long life laptop, or a second battery for the cheaper one?

[west3man]

Good questions.

I'll respond to them (partly to get a handle on it myself) one at a time.Well, think of it this way...

Assming an average DVD time of 90 minutes, that's a 270 minute battery on average. That's four and a half hours. Quite and impressive battery life.

However...

1) How often do you go on trips as long as that? On a plane, couldn't you just bring your portable DVD player? Well, a machine that does BOTH, without KILLING the battery, would help my cost-justification AND keep me from having to bring multiple devices.

I COULD just bring the portable, but that's one more bag and one more device to keep up with and lug around.

2) Eventually, that battery life will get shorter. You have to decide if a temporary larger battery is worth more than twice the DVD burning speed and 20 more gig of HD space. Well, I wouldn't expect that to happen for a couple to three years, right?

If I get it, I'll probably opt for the warranty plan that, among other things, replaces the battery in two to three years, at no additional cost.

3) What's cheaper, the long life laptop, or a second battery for the cheaper one? A second battery doesn't even do it, really. Playing 3 dvd's is unheard of. Laptops, in my experience, do well to last a couple hours WITHOUT playing a dvd. Put a dvd in it and you're doing well to even FINISH it.

Plus, the cheaper one ... It's like this:

80GB laptop: $849.99 plus tax & probably a $300 extended service plan

60GB laptop: $799.99 (after $100 instant rebate and $200 mail-in rebate) plus tax & probably a $300 extended service plan


So, that's kind of a toughie. I can't seem to wrap my brain around that one, at the moment.

[Typo Lad]

1) Extended protection plans are sucker bets.

2) Wait, it's such a small difference in price? Go for the longer battery life.

[west3man]

1) Extended protection plans are sucker bets. Well, consider this: I've got a high-priced gadget AND a very sweet, very wonderful, klutzy girlfriend (whom I'm lucky to have)... plus, the battery gets replaced AND it covers whatever might happen to it. And things DO happen.

But maybe because you're more tech-savvy than I am, you can get things repaired more easily and less expensively.

2) Wait, it's such a small difference in price? Go for the longer battery life. The longer battery life one was the cheaper one, anyway.

However, there's the rebate (which I don't trust, fully), the smaller harddrive, and the 2x (as opposed to 4x) dvd burning speed!




re: dvd burning...

When I burn commercial dvd's, it usually takes 40mins. to read'em and 15 or so to write'em. Read speeds don't usually change all that much from one generation to the next, so I'm thinking that MAYBE it'd STILL only take 40mins to read (as opposed to doubling that) using the 2x burner, while taking 30mins to burn, instead of 15.

That's a difference of 15-20 mins, as opposed to the 1hr difference one might immediately assume. Waddayathink?

[Typo Lad]

Well, consider this: I've got a high-priced gadget AND a very sweet, very wonderful, klutzy girlfriend (whom I'm lucky to have)... plus, the battery gets replaced AND it covers whatever might happen to it. And things DO happen.

But maybe because you're more tech-savvy than I am, you can get things repaired more easily and less expensively.

Not to brag but, yeah. I usually get the part and do it myself.


re: dvd burning...

When I burn commercial dvd's, it usually takes 40mins. to read'em and 15 or so to write'em.

GASP! Piracy!


That's a difference of 15-20 mins, as opposed to the 1hr difference one might immediately assume. Waddayathink?

Your call. You know, if the slower one has a firewire port or USB 2, you can always wait and get an external burner when they hit 8X.

[west3man]

Not to brag but, yeah. I usually get the part and do it myself. On my CURRENT laptop, *somehow* the port for the power adapter go yanked out of alignment. The laptop needed to be opened, the part(s) replaced, and apparently soldered into place.

I couldn't get the bastard open enough to even LOOK at the extent of the damage. I quickly "hit the wall" and couldn't tread any further without screwing something up.

-----
Piracy? The software was sold at CompUSA, among other places, for backing up one's dvd's. Hmph!
-----

Your call. You know, if the slower one has a firewire port or USB 2, you can always wait and get an external burner when they hit 8X.
I wondered if that explanation made sense to you, though.

As far as the external burner, I've already got an internal one and an enclosure (which seems to favor every laptop BUT my current one). I just don't want to have to worry about bringing it along.

I think both models have the firewire and usb 2.0 ports, though.

[howyadoin]

Question: I've got a GarageBand track (in AIF format) and I wanna convert it to MP3. I thought you could do that in iTunes, but I'll be goddamned if I can figure out how.

Is there a way? Or barring that, is there any cheap (i.e., free) OSX software I could download?

[Night]

Question: I've got a GarageBand track (in AIF format) and I wanna convert it to MP3. I thought you could do that in iTunes, but I'll be goddamned if I can figure out how.

Is there a way? Or barring that, is there any cheap (i.e., free) OSX software I could download?The only freeware mp3 encoder I know of that's cross platform and worth anything is called LAME... many of the freeware componets that make mp3's use it. I don't know about OSX or AIF though... you might do a search with lame, OSX, and AIF.

[howyadoin]

The only freeware mp3 encoder I know of that's cross platform and worth anything is called LAME... many of the freeware componets that make mp3's use it. I don't know about OSX or AIF though... you might do a search with lame, OSX, and AIF.Thanks, I'll give that a shot.

[Typo Lad]

There's some tutorials online. Use Google. Also, check versiontracker.

[Rallura]

I got to order three brand new computers for work today. I am excited, since although they aren't the greatest in the world, it's a big step up in processor and ram from what we have currently, and I can stripmine the old computers to beef up the new ones even more.

I have already asked Morts for advice, and looked up how to transfer the settings and files for Outlook, and I have all the software I need, but is there any other advice anyone can offer?

[LtMarvel]

If your old computer has a writable CD Drive, save its hard drive. You can pick and choose what files you want/need for your new puter later.

[Rallura]

If your old computer has a writable CD Drive, save its hard drive. You can pick and choose what files you want/need for your new puter later.

There's only one of them that does, one of the reasons we are replacing three at once.

I have been gathering info and trying to make a plan of action. The new computers have Windows XP on them, and we will be getting XP Pro for them. It appears that XP has some sort of utility to transfer files and setting to a new computer, but it looks, almost too easy, knowing microsoft... Does anyone have any experience using this utility?

[Night]

There's only one of them that does, one of the reasons we are replacing three at once.

I have been gathering info and trying to make a plan of action. The new computers have Windows XP on them, and we will be getting XP Pro for them. It appears that XP has some sort of utility to transfer files and setting to a new computer, but it looks, almost too easy, knowing microsoft... Does anyone have any experience using this utility?Actually, there's a benefit of not transferring all the settings. Lot's of programs (including things like viruses and spyware) leave a lot of junk in you registry that's not needed or potentially harmful. This is especially true when changing OS’s.. the way XP deals with settings like users and security is vastly different o than on 2000 or 98. Now the outlook settings (if you must use outlook) are important. Otherwise just transfer files. If you're on a MS network, you can share the drive of the old computer and transfer files as if you were merely moving them between folders.

Making CD's of data files at this time might be a good idea as well, even if you do a straight transfer this way you'll have a backup. I don't know if there's that much difference between XP home and XP pro. I've only been on one machine that ran XP Home and it was at a business. You may also have to (or want to) wipe the disk when you change from XP home to XP pro.

Also be careful when using old equipment on newer machines... especially the memory... you might get slower results if you mix memory types.

[Rallura]

Good point about the spyware.

And yes, we must use Outlook, not my choice but, I am only the accidental techie, and they often choose to not listen to me, then expect me to fix everything when it goes boom.

I might just use the network then to transfer the files. It's hard to back things up because only one computer has a cd-r, and outside of the floppies there is no other removable media. So I generally back up only the most important things, and try not to worry about most of it.

And I was going to take out the newer memory I had just installed a month ago, and use that, so hopefully no problems.

I am hoping that I can wipe one of the hard drives and put it in the boss' computer, as he seems to somehow fill his hard drive up often. The new one will give him twice as much room but still, I would like to at least triple it.

[Night]

I might just use the network then to transfer the files. It's hard to back things up because only one computer has a cd-r, and outside of the floppies there is no other removable media. So I generally back up only the most important things, and try not to worry about most of it. Once you have the drives shared.. you can use the machine with the CD-R to backup from the shared folders. Might be the only chance you have for a while.

[Rallura]

Once you have the drives shared.. you can use the machine with the CD-R to backup from the shared folders. Might be the only chance you have for a while.

Oh, it's all networked, but the cd-r is on the boss' computer, and it's nigh impossible for me to do any type of comprehensive backups in the short times I have access to it.

[Rallura]

Ah, the smell of new plastic...

They arrived, all black and purty. Setting up the boss' right now, since he is out of the office for two days.

The lesson of borrowed software for today is, you won't have the cd's when you neeeed theeeeemmmmmm...

[Typo Lad]

The lesson of borrowed software for today is, you won't have the cd's when you neeeed theeeeemmmmmm...

That's why you burn COPIES, m'love.

[Rallura]

That's why you burn COPIES, m'love.

Really? You think? I wonder if that's why having only one cd burner, located on the boss' computer, that he doesn't like anyone using, has been SUCH A THORN IN MY SIDE FOR OVER A YEAR NOW AND NO HE WOULDN'T LET ME BUY ONE TO PUT IN MY COMPUTER AND I SWEAR IF QB DOESN'T STOP BEING SUCH A PANSY AND INSTALL ITSELF ALREADY I AM GOING TO SUICIDE BOMB INTUIT AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!1!






I need coffee.

[Typo Lad]

Note to self: the CD burner is a touchy subject.

[Rallura]

Note to self: the CD burner is a touchy subject.

I am okay now, Erika came in and helped me with QB.

And all the new computers have cd-r, so, I can actually do things that I need to do, like, oh, backups...

Almost done with this one I think. Just need to copy over the files.

[Tadhg Adams]

Tiger Server still has no multicasting! And it broke all of Bombich's apps! Arrrrggggh.

[Typo Lad]

And it screwed up my Logitech wireless keyboard drivers. And while my HP all-in-one is FINALLY printing, it killed the scanner. If I want to re-install the scanner, I have to re-install the bad print drivers too.

GHA.

[west3man]

Check this out: http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1&catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F012%5F000%5F000&product%5Fid=16%2D5000&hmsub=ad1

Cinego™ Instant Theater DLP™ Projector with DVD and 2.1 Sound System

http://www.radioshack.com/images/ProductCatalog/ProductImage/16/16-5000.jpg

[Rallura]

Check this out: http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1&catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F012%5F000%5F000&product%5Fid=16%2D5000&hmsub=ad1

Cinego™ Instant Theater DLP™ Projector with DVD and 2.1 Sound System

http://www.radioshack.com/images/ProductCatalog/ProductImage/16/16-5000.jpg

So pretty, so very very pretty...

[Typo Lad]

So pretty, so very very pretty...

So very expensive too!

[Rallura]

So very expensive too!

Compared to a big screen tv?

[Typo Lad]

Compared to a big screen tv?

Compared to a cheaper projector and a set of 2.1 speakers.

Why only 2.1?

Because my apartment is puny.

[west3man]

The picture-quality was very impressive. There are certainly less expensive projectors out there, but compare the image-quality of this one, the price of a progressive-scan dvd player, plus two good speakers and one sub. Now consider the value of having so many of those elements in one, portable, relatively light-weight device.

I'd expect a brand-new projector of comparable quality-by-inspection (I never saw a spec in the pamphlet which referred to lumens) to cost about as much as this one does WITH the extras.

I think it's a helluva deal.

[Tadhg Adams]

And it screwed up my Logitech wireless keyboard drivers. And while my HP all-in-one is FINALLY printing, it killed the scanner. If I want to re-install the scanner, I have to re-install the bad print drivers too.

GHA.

HAHA! I was wrong, there is multicasting functioning built into the server! YAY. I figured out how to get it to work in the commandline but it looks like bombich is updating Netrestore to make use of it. No longer will it take 3 hours to reload a Mac lab. Hooray.

Of course Apple barely mentions it in the documentation. I have never seen more pathetic documentation for enterprise level apps. But at least the version of Samba in Tiger Server isn't just hacked together like previous versions.

[Rallura]

It occured to me, as I knocked the bottle over for the fifth time while crawling around trying to hook up the monitor on the boss' desk, that an small enclosed space holding a cpu that gets very hot due to said cpu isn't the best place to store a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label.

[Tadhg Adams]

It occured to me, as I knocked the bottle over for the fifth time while crawling around trying to hook up the monitor on the boss' desk, that an small enclosed space holding a cpu that gets very hot due to said cpu isn't the best place to store a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label.

That makes me sad on so many different levels. You should take it with you, it's considered abuse to leave it there

[Nitmo]

That makes me sad on so many different levels. You should take it with you, it's considered abuse to leave it there
That's right, you don't want to be known as an alcohol abuser

[howyadoin]

It occured to me, as I knocked the bottle over for the fifth time while crawling around trying to hook up the monitor on the boss' desk, that an small enclosed space holding a cpu that gets very hot due to said cpu isn't the best place to store a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label.That's a very strange boss you've got there.

[Tadhg Adams]

What's the plural of UNIX? Is it Unicies?

[Typo Lad]

What's the plural of UNIX? Is it Unicies?

Inix?

Unixim?

[DarkBlade]

If Unix were a proper latin word, it would fall under 3rd declension, so I think it'd be Unices. (k sound, not s.) Personally though, I just use Unix as the descriptive noun and make "system" or whatever plural.

[howyadoin]

What's the plural of UNIX? Is it Unicies?Maybe it's "eunuchs".

[Paul McEnery]

What's the plural of UNIX? Is it Unicies?
Twonix.

Duh.

[jessecuster]

yeah when would you ever use the plural of Unix, give me an example, it would always be Unix systems or Unix scripts.

[Rallura]

That's a very strange boss you've got there.

It was a gift from a curator in recognition of above and beyond service during a very difficult exhibit. He's only had two shots out of it, one for him and one for a friend when the friend came in upset.

I feel like taking a swig out of it right now. He wants his dvd drive from his old computer in his new computer, not a big deal, up until the point I had it all hooked up, and turned the computer on, and it informed me gleefully it had found new hardware. Problem is, it thinks it found a printer, and won't believe me when I tell it it's a dvd-rom...

[howyadoin]

It was a gift from a curator in recognition of above and beyond service during a very difficult exhibit. He's only had two shots out of it, one for him and one for a friend when the friend came in upset.Ah, now I get it. Only a non-drinker would store booze in a hot place.

[Rallura]

Ah, now I get it. Only a non-drinker would store booze in a hot place.

He's a wine drinker. Wait, that doesn't count...

And I am an idiot. Everyone else walked out of here at the end of the day, (leaving their computers and lights on, and the juice from this morning and this afternoon sitting out, yes I'd be happy to put everything away for you, oh yes) and here I sit, finishing the bills. What the hell am I thinking? I am going home, and I am leaving this stack of bills right here. Sod it.

[Rallura]

FYI: Screaming "It's a DVD not a printer you silly twit" doesn't work in WinXP...

[Typo Lad]

FYI: Screaming "It's a DVD not a printer you silly twit" doesn't work in WinXP...

XP+Work...

does not compute.

Syntax error. Syntax error.

[Slappy san]

I wasn't sure where to post this.


http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?t=57111

[west3man]

This is weird. I posted this last night, I thought.

If I'm, in fact, NOT crazy (fat chance) and the post was deleted by a mod, please tell me so. I'd also like to know why, but if not, at least I'd know not to recreate it.
--------------------
Anyway, I now own an desktop with XP Media Center. It's on a Pentium 4 3.2GHz, 512MB RAM (like Morts said, I don't see that as a lot, anymore), an 8x dvd burner, another dvd-rom drive, a 19-inch flat panel monitor and some really nice speakers n stuff.

The keyboard and mouse are wireless. The sum-gun tunes in tv shows, records them (on the 200GB hd) & lets me pause and rewind like a TiVo, and also picks up radio stations. I can access many of these features using the mouse OR the built-in keyboard functions OR the wireless remote control.

It's one bad motor-scooter.

Believe it or not, HP's website doesn't appear to have all of the precise specs listed, but it's close enough, for now...

specs: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00213822

http://i6.ebayimg.com/03/i/03/53/56/7e_1_b.JPG

[jessecuster]

hahahahaha you bought a media center, welcome to DRM my friend. Wait till they say sorry that tv show you recorded will be deleted in 2 weeks, no matter what. Oh you say you liked the Spider-Man movie, good, we will program nothing but comic book movies over and over as long as you live.



yes Im sorry for the oversaturated sarcasm but Media Center pc's are the devil, the absolute devil. They are like a window to your soul for every major corporation in America. And good luck with your portable music player, when they disable any and all MP3s on your hard drive.

[west3man]

hahahahaha you bought a media center, welcome to DRM my friend. Wait till they say sorry that tv show you recorded will be deleted in 2 weeks, no matter what. Oh you say you liked the Spider-Man movie, good, we will program nothing but comic book movies over and over as long as you live.



yes Im sorry for the oversaturated sarcasm but Media Center pc's are the devil, the absolute devil. They are like a window to your soul for every major corporation in America. And good luck with your portable music player, when they disable any and all MP3s on your hard drive.
Yeah. That was odd.

[Typo Lad]

Gee, don't hold back Jess. Tell us how you really feel.

[jessecuster]

yeah Im really sorry, but DRM and the DMCA and the real source of all evil TCPA are the most sinister aspects of the media and medai center pc's are effectively going to be their breeding ground.


West, when you get your machine check out your MB and start looking for mysterious chips that you are not used to seeing on a MB.

[Dreadstar]

Gee, don't hold back Jess. Tell us how you really feel.

Actually, it sounds like a Mac user giving short shrift to an IBM...

...*ahem*...

[Typo Lad]

Actually, it sounds like a Mac user giving short shrift to an IBM...

...*ahem*...

That was an attempt at an April Fool's Flamewar.

hey wait, you KNEW that.

Damnit, you just outed us!

[west3man]

yeah Im really sorry, but DRM and the DMCA and the real source of all evil TCPA are the most sinister aspects of the media and medai center pc's are effectively going to be their breeding ground.
Maybe I've given you the impression, from my various posts on techery, that I'm familiar with those acronyms, but I have little idea what you're talking about.

Context ain't everything.

West, when you get your machine check out your MB and start looking for mysterious chips that you are not used to seeing on a MB. I got it yesterday.

[jessecuster]

TCPA (http://www.againsttcpa.com/)

DRM is Digital Rights Managment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Rights_Management)


and DMCA is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which could potentially make even an IPOD illegal.


There are lots of technological issues affecting us on a daily basis, those of you who are interested in technology and their issues should definitely become members of EFF (http://www.eff.org). You do not have to donate money, but when they have cases that require letters to your congressman, you can put in your info and they automatically send a fax and email to the appropriate people with your info.

[Tadhg Adams]

Maybe I've given you the impression, from my various posts on techery, that I'm familiar with those acronyms, but I have little idea what you're talking about.

Context ain't everything.

I got it yesterday.


DRM means Digital Rights Managment, it's the encryption and other security measures used by copyright holders to protect their intellectual property in the digital age.

DMCA is the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, an interesting piece of legislation that was passed in the US to help ensure the protections of intellectual property in the digital age. It's a bit overreaching, if you ask me, but the courts have continually held it up.

The TCPA is the Trusted Computing Alliance which is spearheading the use of modules on computers to encrypt copyrighted material.

While none of these things are positive in my opinions, Jesse is overreacting just a tad. But that seems to be quite common in matters like this.

[jessecuster]

While none of these things are positive in my opinions, Jesse is overreacting just a tad. But that seems to be quite common in matters like this.

If people don't start doing things to protect us now, when will they, when we are living in Orwell's 1984 ?

I may seem to be overreacting, but I also pay attention to most of the technological cases in the legal universe. I also read everything I can about most technology and usually from different points of view.


I am very passionate about a lot of things but politically, technology issues and Israel are my 2 highest priorities, I actually would go to work for either lobbying group in a heartbeat if I had the experience and contacts.

[Tadhg Adams]

If people don't start doing things to protect us now, when will they, when we are living in Orwell's 1984 ?

No offense, but when you when you call a computer "The Absolute Devil", try to scare people into thinking a computer is going to delete their personal files and imply that we're going to end up in an Orwellian Dystopia, you come off as a kook.

And why is it always 1984? I want someone to tell me that pigs are going to take over. At least that'd keep me amused.

[jessecuster]

I never called a computer the devil, I called the chip that will be monitoring everything you do on your pc evil but that was it.

And the reason I make the 1984 reference is because of Big Brother. You give me any other example of something that is as well known and meaningful as Big Brother and I promise you I will use it instead.


I am not a kook and have never been a kook, technology is a delicate issue, and if people aren't informed they will never know what is out there and how it wilol directly affect them.

[west3man]

No offense, but when you when you call a computer "The Absolute Devil", try to scare people into thinking a computer is going to delete their personal files and imply that we're going to end up in an Orwellian Dystopia, you come off as a kook.

I never called a computer the devil, I called the chip that will be monitoring everything you do on your pc evil but that was it.

yes Im sorry for the oversaturated sarcasm but Media Center pc's are the devil, the absolute devil. They are like a window to your soul for every major corporation in America. And good luck with your portable music player, when they disable any and all MP3s on your hard drive.

I am not a kook and have never been a kook, technology is a delicate issue, and if people aren't informed they will never know what is out there and how it wilol directly affect them.

hahahahaha you bought a media center, welcome to DRM my friend. Wait till they say sorry that tv show you recorded will be deleted in 2 weeks, no matter what. Oh you say you liked the Spider-Man movie, good, we will program nothing but comic book movies over and over as long as you live.

Whether you're a cook or a kook, presentation matters.

[Typo Lad]

You know what's the devil?

GreenZap (Do NOT go here on Safari!!!) (http://www.greenzap.com/)

Massive internet scam pretending to be a PayPal alternative. When you go there in Safari, it DLs a malicious Dashboard widget.

And to make matters worse, they're a scam, (http://www.greenzapscam.com/) with scores of people falling for it.

[jessecuster]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tadhg Adams
No offense, but when you when you call a computer "The Absolute Devil", try to scare people into thinking a computer is going to delete their personal files and imply that we're going to end up in an Orwellian Dystopia, you come off as a kook.


Quote:
Originally Posted by jessecuster
I never called a computer the devil, I called the chip that will be monitoring everything you do on your pc evil but that was it.


Quote:
Originally Posted by jessecuster
yes Im sorry for the oversaturated sarcasm but Media Center pc's are the devil, the absolute devil. They are like a window to your soul for every major corporation in America. And good luck with your portable music player, when they disable any and all MP3s on your hard drive.




See I am referring directly to a very specific type of thing, not just a computer, a Media Center PC, made to appear as a really tempting machine for the masses. All the bells and whistles you hear from all your favorite geek friends, tv shows and magazines, yet underneath is something really insidious.




But I am done now, I have said what I want to say, I will no longer talk about this stuff anymore.

[west3man]

But I am done now, I have said what I want to say, I will no longer talk about this stuff anymore. Your choice. I certainly don't mind discussing it with you further.

Like I said, though, presentation matters - particularly since I just bought the thing.

[howyadoin]

Question: I've got a GarageBand track (in AIF format) and I wanna convert it to MP3. I thought you could do that in iTunes, but I'll be goddamned if I can figure out how.

Is there a way? Or barring that, is there any cheap (i.e., free) OSX software I could download?Turns out all you have to do is select the song in iTunes and choose "convert selection to MP3" under the advanced menu.

[howyadoin]

Holy crap, you oughta see all the new gear at the place where I'm workin' today - 4 new G5s (2.5 gigs of RAM each), and 6 23-inch widescreen Cinema HD displays.

[Rallura]

Holy crap, you oughta see all the new gear at the place where I'm workin' today - 4 new G5s (2.5 gigs of RAM each), and 6 23-inch widescreen Cinema HD displays.

Holy crap, you oughta see the way WinXP Easy File Sharing isn't easy, and doesn't share.

Also, there is a bee in the office, and it hates me, and is going to kill me soon. It was nice knowing you all.

[howyadoin]

Also, there is a bee in the office, and it hates me, and is going to kill me soon. It was nice knowing you all.Do you have any spray window cleaner on hand? Douse the little fucker with that a couple times and he'll slow down enough for you to swat him.

[Rallura]

Do you have any spray window cleaner on hand? Douse the little fucker with that a couple times and he'll slow down enough for you to swat him.

Oh yes, I forgot about doing things to make him madder...

[Typo Lad]

Holy crap, you oughta see the way WinXP Easy File Sharing isn't easy, and doesn't share.

It's my fault. I should have warned you.

Any Microsoft Wizards or "Easy" tools are actually designed to make you go insane.

[Rallura]

It's my fault. I should have warned you.

Any Microsoft Wizards or "Easy" tools are actually designed to make you go insane.

Well, I pretty much already knew that. I just wish if it wasn't going to work, it would not work at all, instead of working on two machines and not working on the other two.

[west3man]

Despite ol' boy's delivery, I've been looking into the media center more to see some of the pro's I wasn't aware of and the con's he'd mentioned.

Right now, I'm taking a look at this review (http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/windowsxp_mce2004.asp). I haven't finished it, yet, but thought others might find it interesting. I've seriously considered how worthwhile it would or wouldn't be to use this thing as my primary, as opposed to an additional, entertainment center(-piece).

Right now, I don't see it being TOO likely (especially if I get rid of the other pc's) as our web-browsing options would be limited due to someone enjoying tv or radio programs on it. But, there may be a work-around for that.


P/S Thank goodness for Mozilla!

[jessecuster]

Directly from your link West: In February 2003, I received my first beta hardware with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 (code-named "Harmony"), an evolutionary update to the original XP MCE release that addresses key customer issues and adds compelling new features. The initial excitement quickly died, however, because that first beta release was far less stable and performance-challenged than the shipping version of XP MCE 1.0, and after struggling with it for a few weeks we gave up and went back to the original. But there were signs of life in all the tumult: The new features in XP MCE 2004 looked interesting, and we were eager to try out the new system in the ultimate real world scenario: The busy den of a family with two kids. Our first chance came in April 2003, when the Beta 1 Update for Harmony arrived, offering performance improvements and bug fixes. Since then, my family has used various beta versions of Harmony full-time, including a stable and very usable Beta 2 release, as our primary TV interface and digital video recorder (DVR), on a variety of beta PCs, and with our original HP MCPC. And in late August 2003, we finally received the final, shipping code. This review, then, encompasses several months of experience with the software and various beta hardware devices.


This guy is recieving beta hardware and software from Microsoft and you expect an objective review ?

[west3man]

Directly from your link West:


This guy is recieving beta hardware and software from Microsoft and you expect an objective review ?
People receive betas for the purpose OF reviewing. I wouldn't discount someone's review simply on the basis that AOL, for instance, sent them a beta-version. Hell, I've received one, m'self.

I get my info. from multiple sources. I like it that way. If some appear to be biased, that's worth pointing-out, of course. It doesn't mean the review is completely worthless, though.

[Slappy san]

Media Center Edition is riddled with problem according to everything I've read.

[west3man]

Media Center Edition is riddled with problem according to everything I've read.
Care to elaborate?

[Spike-X]

...an evolutionary update to the original XP MCE release that addresses key customer issues and adds compelling new features.

"What do you mean, is it in my own words?"

[Slappy san]

Care to elaborate?

I didnt commit it to memory. I read enough and decided not to get it. Check ExtremeTech and some sites like that.

[west3man]

I didnt commit it to memory. I read enough and decided not to get it. Check ExtremeTech and some sites like that.
Thanks for the info.

[west3man]

No luck with ExtremeTech.

I'll keep lookin' here and there, though.

[Slappy san]

No luck with ExtremeTech.

I'll keep lookin' here and there, though.

Go to the boards an type "Media Center" into the search box.

[west3man]

Go to the boards an type "Media Center" into the search box.
I tried "pc media center" last time.

I'll try the other later, if you think it'll make a difference.

[Slappy san]

I tried "pc media center" last time.

I'll try the other later, if you think it'll make a difference.

Umm yes it will. I tried it before I replied the last time. Putting "pc" in there was not a good idea. Hell, I didnt put "edition" in there. The fewer key words...the better the result.

[jessecuster]

West, here is a good article written by an actual Microsoft employee and it is almost all negative stuff.



Edit:
Whoops forgot the Article (http://blog.mattgoyer.com/categories/mediaCenter/2004/12/30.html)

[west3man]

West, here is a good article written by an actual Microsoft employee and it is almost all negative stuff.



Edit:
Whoops forgot the Article (http://blog.mattgoyer.com/categories/mediaCenter/2004/12/30.html)

Thanks. I'll take a look, later.

[west3man]

One cool thing is that I can capture tv or dvd screen images if I play them through the media center software.

Nice.

It kinda sucks that the IR sensor only works with the media center pc's remote control. I can't beam files from the Treo through it.

Kinda sucks, but at least I've got the option to slap the sd card in the media slot. That sounds kinda nasty.

[west3man]

Turns out this sucker allows me to burn the tv shows to dvd.

[Slappy san]

Turns out this sucker allows me to burn the tv shows to dvd.

Didnt you read the specs before purchase? :D











...says the guy who forgot his monitor rotated...

[west3man]

Didnt you read the specs before purchase? :D


...says the guy who forgot his monitor rotated...
Heh. Fair question.

I figured that was standard, but saw some stuff that made me reconsider. Turns out, according to some stuff I read recently, that only the 2005 version of the software allows one to burn the recorded tv programs to dvd. The previous versions do not, supposedly. I couldn't find anything that said which one I had, for sure, but I figured I'd probably missed out and gotten the 2004 version or something.

I burned an episode of American Dad, this morning.

Also, I only got some of the paperwork that came with it, this weekend. It'd been misplaced at the time of purchase.




Oh yeah. I read through some of the stuff jesse provided (thx, jess). Most of what I've seen, so far, doesn't look all that bad. I can't record one show while watching another unless I get another tv tuner video card. No biggie. I have other computers and tv's I can access during those times.

Most of the "cons" on that page either don't apply to my system or aren't really big deals.

I'm still figuring out precisely what it can and can't do, so I'll keep having revelations and disappointments, for a while, most likely.

[howyadoin]

One cool thing is that I can capture tv or dvd screen images if I play them through the media center software.That's something I wish I could do on my computer. But if the DVD app is open at all, you can't do a screen cap of any kind.

[west3man]

That's something I wish I could do on my computer. But if the DVD app is open at all, you can't do a screen cap of any kind.
You know I know next-to-nothing about Macs, but when I tried to capture, earlier, I received a message that said the retail version would do it.

Maybe the same is true for you?

[howyadoin]

You know I know next-to-nothing about Macs, but when I tried to capture, earlier, I received a message that said the retail version would do it.

Maybe the same is true for you?Naw, no message. Basically, nothing happens at all. Which is a little better than the previous operating system (you could do a screen cap, but when you opened up the screen cap image, it was black or dark green), but not by much.

[west3man]

Naw, no message. Basically, nothing happens at all. Which is a little better than the previous operating system (you could do a screen cap, but when you opened up the screen cap image, it was black or dark green), but not by much.
I didn't mean the message's appearance. It meant it's content.

Maybe a full version of the software would do what you want it to do. I don't know if it's worth the potential cost, but I thought it might be worth mentioning.

[howyadoin]

I didn't mean the message's appearance. It meant it's content.There is no message. Literally, when I use either of the commands for screen caps, nothing happens if I have the DVD-player software open. But if I don't have that software open, it generates a PDF on the desktop.

Agai, not a huge deal. But I'd love to be able to take screen caps of The Matrix and Blade Runner and use them as desktop images.

[Slappy san]

Agai, not a huge deal. But I'd love to be able to take screen caps of The Matrix and Blade Runner and use them as desktop images.

I have a ton of Matrix wallpapers if you're interested.

[Typo Lad]

That's something I wish I could do on my computer. But if the DVD app is open at all, you can't do a screen cap of any kind.

Check Versiontracker. There are apps that let you do that.

[west3man]

There is no message. Literally, when I use either of the commands for screen caps, nothing happens if I have the DVD-player software open. But if I don't have that software open, it generates a PDF on the desktop.

Agai, not a huge deal. But I'd love to be able to take screen caps of The Matrix and Blade Runner and use them as desktop images.
I know it's no biggie for you, but I'd just like to try to make my earlier statement clearer.

With or without a message, you may find that the full version of your or other software may have the option(s) you want. You may be able to get them by paying for them or ... by other methods. See Morts.

[west3man]

Hadda do it.

I had a dvd stored on the other computer, but wanted to watch the movie, so I hooked that desktop to the 'jector. Not a bad flick (After the Sunset), but we didn't get to finish it.

Anyway, that was the 76inch picture (since it was widescreen). I took it with the Treo, so it's not the best, but it's the perfect size for online stuff.

Anyway, I was pleased.

EDIT: Hmm... I can't seem to upload a pic.

[Slappy san]

Hadda do it.

I had a dvd stored on the other computer, but wanted to watch the movie, so I hooked that desktop to the 'jector. Not a bad flick (After the Sunset), but we didn't get to finish it.

Anyway, that was the 76inch picture (since it was widescreen). I took it with the Treo, so it's not the best, but it's the perfect size for online stuff.

Anyway, I was pleased.

EDIT: Hmm... I can't seem to upload a pic.

D'oh!


xxxx

[west3man]

Hadda do it.

I had a dvd stored on the other computer, but wanted to watch the movie, so I hooked that desktop to the 'jector. Not a bad flick (After the Sunset), but we didn't get to finish it.

Anyway, that was the 76inch picture (since it was widescreen). I took it with the Treo, so it's not the best, but it's the perfect size for online stuff.

Anyway, I was pleased.

EDIT: Hmm... I can't seem to upload a pic.
Looks like a file size issue.

[TheLewisShow]

I mentioned this in Jade's birthday thread, thought I'd throw it out here:

She brings over the machine which will not boot into Windows. It's a critical hard drive error. I loaded a bootable Linux CD and was able to load, navigate, and copy/burn some files for her.

I concluded that Windows was so jacked that I needed to just do a full reinstall. So I did, with no luck at all. I then tried to install Suse9 which worked perfectly.

I then did a low level format..I think that's what it's called. I wrote 0's on the harddrive with a Maxtor utility I downloaded. I then tried to reinstall Windows, but it will not let me complete installation because it's back to telling me that the hard drive is corrupt.

Now, how can a hard drive run Linux perfectly, without incident, yet will not run, format, or have anything to do with Windows.

She does not have any of the disks that came with the computer and it is a Compaq 5430US. I'm trying to install WinXP Home Ed.

My only 2 thoughts are that I need the proprietary disks from Compaq or the hard drive needs to just be replaced. Is there anything else I can do before I end up shipping the hard drive back to Maxtor?

[howyadoin]

I have a ton of Matrix wallpapers if you're interested.Thanks, but I'm really a DIY guy when it comes to stuff like that. And thanks to Morts's suggestion...
Check Versiontracker. There are apps that let you do that.... I was able to find DVD Capture, which worked like a charm.

[Typo Lad]

I then did a low level format..I think that's what it's called. I wrote 0's on the harddrive with a Maxtor utility I downloaded. I then tried to reinstall Windows, but it will not let me complete installation because it's back to telling me that the hard drive is corrupt.

Do a FULL format from fdisk.

[TheLewisShow]

Do a FULL format from fdisk.

I forgot, that's like the second thing that we did. We got a bootable xp disk and did the full fdisk. we erased all partitions but for some reason there was some magical hidden one, because when we would go to reformat it would freeze at 20%. But that's my theory.

I'm going to go thru all the steps again, if it dosen't work, Maxtor has some explaining to do.

[Typo Lad]

Hnh.

XP Home can be picky with disks other OSes would see as good. The disk may be damaged.

PM me an address if you want a 20 gig HD.

[TheLewisShow]

Hnh.

XP Home can be picky with disks other OSes would see as good. The disk may be damaged.

PM me an address if you want a 20 gig HD.

Thanks, Morts! Stay tuned for that. I'll let you/everyone know what happens. Yer the bestest.

[jessecuster]

Just ran into this same problem with a friends Presario, he happened to have the Compaq system restore disk and we ran that and then XP installed smoothly. Check Compaq's website, also try the store it was bought from. If neither of those are fruitful, yank the HDD, make it a slave and plug it into another pc(preferably running XP) from here, format it again, and then re-partition it. Once done make it a master again, and try WinXP install once more.

[west3man]

Oh. Dunno if I mentioned it, but jc's post reminded me.

Remember when I got that laptop some weeks back and couldn't get it to make those oh-so-nice recovery discs? You may also recall I took the lil bastard back to the store, as a result.

Well, I was similarly concerned with this Media Center pc. It told me I could burn the discs, but it'd only let me do it ONCE. (Which reminds me, I've gotta make back-ups of'em). I took a deep breath and let'er roll.

Booyah! Two back-up dvd's. (I thought that'd be better than 6-8 cd's.)

[Typo Lad]

Just ran into this same problem with a friends Presario, he happened to have the Compaq system restore disk and we ran that and then XP installed smoothly. Check Compaq's website, also try the store it was bought from. If neither of those are fruitful, yank the HDD, make it a slave and plug it into another pc(preferably running XP) from here, format it again, and then re-partition it. Once done make it a master again, and try WinXP install once more.

Nope.

When he goes to transfer the HD back to the original PC, Home Edition will refuse to run.

[jessecuster]

Nope.

When he goes to transfer the HD back to the original PC, Home Edition will refuse to run.


Well you know it may just work, repartitioning does soemtimes work I've seen it.

[west3man]

Nope.

When he goes to transfer the HD back to the original PC, Home Edition will refuse to run.
I'd expect that, if he installed XP while the hd was still in the other computer.

If the formatting is done on the other computer, but the installation on the original one, there's a chance.

[TheLewisShow]

I'd expect that, if he installed XP while the hd was still in the other computer.

If the formatting is done on the other computer, but the installation on the original one, there's a chance.

I think I will give it a shot if everything else fails. I think everyone's right to a degree. I have an HP that needs to be reformatted and it uses HomeEd so it wouldn't hurt. I just need to get Windows running.

I did also try another version of Windows (2000) with no luck also.

[west3man]

I think I will give it a shot if everything else fails. I think everyone's right to a degree. I have an HP that needs to be reformatted and it uses HomeEd so it wouldn't hurt. I just need to get Windows running.

I did also try another version of Windows (2000) with no luck also.
I have wrestled with such things. The weird thing was that the computer worked, already. I just wanted to put it back in factory condition before giving it to my parents.

I went through so much trying to restore it that I'm VERY hesitant to mess around with such things except when absolutley necessary.

That's really unfortunate because I've got this idea about how nice it'd be to just restore regularly to prevent or undo certain problems. At least XP's built-in restoration option (not to mention the recovery options) is available. That has helped me HEAPS in the past when SOMEONE allowed something malicious onto my system.

[west3man]

Has anyone else noticed Treo's showing up in movies and tv shows, fairly regularly, these days?

I don't remember all the places I've seen'em (which would include real-life places more and more these days), but I KNOW one or two folks had'em on THE WEST WING and a dude used one for some really fancy techery in the movie THE LAST SUNSET (or whatever it was called - with Pierce Brosnan, Salma "too hot" Hayek, etc.).

[Typo Lad]

I've been seeing them all over NY lately, which is very cool.

The Verizon model just came out too.

[Typo Lad]

Oh hey, the "lifedrive" came out!

http://www.palminfocenter.com/images/LifeDrive_yellowtulip_L.jpg

First Plam OS device with ain intigrated 4 GB HD.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, portrait mode, Virtual Graffiti area and a MMC/SD/SDIO port. All for 500 bucks, SMRP.

So what's the problem?

The battery is NON-REMOVABLE.

Goodness! How stupid is Palm?

They FINALLY have a killer device, albiet at a high price point, and instead of putting a removable battery on it, as is standard with almost every PocketPC device and with their own Treo, they stick people with a battery that they'll have to pay a technician to replace when it dies.

And it WILL die. BT and Wi-Fi eat batteries like ET eats M&Ms.

I blame Apple for settign a prescident with the iPod.

[west3man]

Oh hey, the "lifedrive" came out!

http://www.palminfocenter.com/images/LifeDrive_yellowtulip_L.jpg

First Plam OS device with ain intigrated 4 GB HD.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, portrait mode, Virtual Graffiti area and a MMC/SD/SDIO port. All for 500 bucks, SMRP.

So what's the problem?

The battery is NON-REMOVABLE.

Goodness! How stupid is Palm?

They FINALLY have a killer device, albiet at a high price point, and instead of putting a removable battery on it, as is standard with almost every PocketPC device and with their own Treo, they stick people with a battery that they'll have to pay a technician to replace when it dies.

And it WILL die. BT and Wi-Fi eat batteries like ET eats M&Ms.

I blame Apple for settign a prescident with the iPod.
That DOES suck.

But maybe they're thinking they'll make more after-purchase $$$ by charging for maintenance n whatnot, than they think they'll lose b/c people won't purchase an item with a removable battery.

[Typo Lad]

Holy Duckhunt, Batman!

The new Nintendo Revolution system will feature a service that wilkl let you load and play almost any game from previous systems, all the way back to the NES.

Wow.

Plus, it'll play the actual discs for the Cube too.

It took a long time for Nintendo to make a backwards compatible home console, but they sure are making up for lost time!

[west3man]

Anyone know what the *.mim format is?

Morts have you encountered this, particularly when e-mailing Treo photos to another e-mail account?

Here's what happens. I take a picture with the Treo, like the other day when we were watching that Brosnan movie. I decide to e-mail it to myself during the movie so all I have to do is upload it to the site or just download it to the computer. If I send it to a g-mail account (bad example), it usually shows up fairly well (except that g-mail likes to clump my SprintPCS e-mails together... somehow losing all but the "top" photo attachment). If I e-mail it to my AOL account, that's fine, as long as I download it using the web-based AOL-mail option. If I use the AOL software (!!!), the attachment shows up as a *.mim file, whereas it's a *.jpg file in the other cases (including if I access it via the web-based AOL thingee).

AOL and XP don't have a clue what to do with that *.mim file. Changing the extension doesn't help. All I've been able to do is just e-mail the original to another account or access it differently.

I thought *.mim might be some type of *.zip-alternative, either from conversations here or elsewhere, but nothing and no one recognizes it.

Thoughts?

[Typo Lad]

Anyone know what the *.mim format is?

Yes.

Morts have you encountered this, particularly when e-mailing Treo photos to another e-mail account?

haven't tried that yet.


Thoughts?

Three possibilities:

MIM = MIME encoded file
MIME = Message in MIME format (RFC822)
MIME = Mime: message/rfc822

Answers here: http://www.faqs.org/qa/fqa2318.html

Edit: Wait, no they aren't!

use Stuiffit expander.

http://help.channels.aol.com/SearchData/kjump.adp?catId=1&sCId=102&sSCId=1021&articleId=187617

[west3man]

use Stuiffit expander.

http://help.channels.aol.com/SearchData/kjump.adp?catId=1&sCId=102&sSCId=1021&articleId=187617
Many thanks, sir.




Anyone have any suggestions about a photo-taking issue? I've encountered this and so has a co-worker of mine:

His digital camera has a 10x optical zoom and mine has an 8x optical zoom. When we try to zoom in on something/someone (in my case, my lil cousin), the image gets blurry as HECK and there doesn't seem to be anything we can do about it. I've tried switching to or from landscape mode (distance shots) to portrait or whatever you call the close-up ones. No love.

I'd guess that the higher zoom levels are meant more for distance shots, but it kinda makes sense intuitively (which isn't always reliable) that one would be able to zoom in, even on closer objects, like we do with binoculars. Zoom, then adjust focus. So far, no love.

Suggestions?

[Night]

Anyone have any suggestions about a photo-taking issue? I've encountered this and so has a co-worker of mine:

His digital camera has a 10x optical zoom and mine has an 8x optical zoom. When we try to zoom in on something/someone (in my case, my lil cousin), the image gets blurry as HECK and there doesn't seem to be anything we can do about it. I've tried switching to or from landscape mode (distance shots) to portrait or whatever you call the close-up ones. No love.

I'd guess that the higher zoom levels are meant more for distance shots, but it kinda makes sense intuitively (which isn't always reliable) that one would be able to zoom in, even on closer objects, like we do with binoculars. Zoom, then adjust focus. So far, no love.

Suggestions? It might be that you're too close for the focus threshold of the camera. If it's an autofocus only, then you might also be too close for the sensors to judge distance. You might have to take a couple of steps back and zoom in further. There's software that can adjust for focus, but I don't have a lot of experience on how well it works. If it’s a high enough resolution camera it is easier to software-fix the zoom than the focus. If you want to throw a lot of money at the problem, get a camera with changeable lenses and manual focus.

[west3man]

It might be that you're too close for the focus threshold of the camera. If it's an autofocus only, then you might also be too close for the sensors to judge distance. You might have to take a couple of steps back and zoom in further. There's software that can adjust for focus, but I don't have a lot of experience on how well it works. If it’s a high enough resolution camera it is easier to software-fix the zoom than the focus. If you want to throw a lot of money at the problem, get a camera with changeable lenses and manual focus.
I'm going to mess with it some more and get a better feel for precisely what the problem is. I've avoided using this particular one for some time, considering how it seems to devour batteries (Now I'm thinking I may have needed to use rechargeables that are meant for digital cameras), so my memory of its faults has gotten a lil hazy.

I'll try the stepping back thing. It's got a manual focus option, but it's already as sharp as it'll get for that distance/zoom.

*scratches head*

I may try that in the next hour or so, in fact.

[Night]

I forgot, that's like the second thing that we did. We got a bootable xp disk and did the full fdisk. we erased all partitions but for some reason there was some magical hidden one, because when we would go to reformat it would freeze at 20%. But that's my theory.

I'm going to go thru all the steps again, if it dosen't work, Maxtor has some explaining to do.Microsoft Fdisk (even the XP one) are inherently stupid. It has a special dificulty in trying to remove non MS partitions.... it gets confused. You might try using fdisk from a linux to erase the partitions. I use the Slackware cfdisk because I can get to the shell and rewrite the partition table without going through install more easily on the slackware dist than on suse's or redhat's dist...

Edit: If this happens to be a 40Gig Maxtor drive... there was a line of 40Gig Maxtor that had a tendency to fail catastrophically.... However, it tends to be the Linux dists that have problems on install... usually windows will do an install without telling you there’s a problem with the disk and have data problems later.

[TheLewisShow]

Microsoft Fdisk (even the XP one) are inherently stupid. It has a special dificulty in trying to remove non MS partitions.... it gets confused. You might try using fdisk from a linux to erase the partitions. I use the Slackware cfdisk because I can get to the shell and rewrite the partition table without going through install more easily on the slackware dist than on suse's or redhat's dist...

Edit: If this happens to be a 40Gig Maxtor drive... there was a line of 40Gig Maxtor that had a tendency to fail catastrophically.... However, it tends to be the Linux dists that have problems on install... usually windows will do an install without telling you there’s a problem with the disk and have data problems later.

Very good information! I'm going to research Maxtor a little more..I've always been a Western Digital guy.

*edit* It's also an 80gb hard drive.

[west3man]

I purchased four more AA batteries for the charger. Hopefully, this'll stop my camera from premature expiration.

Btw, dunno if I mentioned it, but that charger is a #$T$#! (an expensive one at that, it seems)! It charges four batteries in 15 mins!!!

Love it.

[dougputhoff]

Tech Geeks, Help!

I just scanned for virsuses, and I discovered I had some adware. I managed to clean and delete some of them, but I have some more I had to quarantine. Can these feels be deleted? If so, how?

[MacQuarrie]

You think you have troubles....

I shot a bunch of photos with my digital camera, then copied them to a folder on my system.

Then I renamed the files.

Then I deleted the images off the smart cards so I could shoot some more pictures tomorrow.

Then I went to the folder where I put the pictures.

They're gone.

They got wiped out somehow. I've runa couple of different utilities to try to recover them, both from the hard drive and the card.

No luck.

So now I need to reschedule a photoshoot.

Unless somebody here knows how to undelete stuff.

Mac G4 OSX 10.3.9

[west3man]

Tech Geeks, Help!

I just scanned for virsuses, and I discovered I had some adware. I managed to clean and delete some of them, but I have some more I had to quarantine. Can these feels be deleted? If so, how?
Why did you say you "had to quarantine" them?

Did it give you no other option? Btw, if it told you what the files were named and where they were located, you could always go directly to them and either delete or rename them. I like the rename option because it's easily reversed.

[west3man]

Mac G4 OSX 10.3.9
Sorry you had those problems. I'm not a Mac-man, so I don't really have any ideas... but you still came to the right place!

(If you're wondering why I even responded, it's because I don't want folks thinking they're being ignored.)

[west3man]

So, here's My question. An acquaintance used to tell me about a utility or application that allows one to access one computer remotely from another. One would actually SEE the desktop of the other computer, as well as being able to manipulate the mouse and whatnot.

It occurred to me that if I could get that system set up properly (and securely), it'd be pretty cool for situations like today's.

Morts wanted a show recorded, but I was at work and planned to go somewhere before going home. If I'd had this thing set up with the media center pc, I could've reached through, as I like to call it, told it to record, then gone about my b'ness without having to come all the way back home, first.

I think that'd be pretty cool for the above and other similar applications. Anyone know what it'd take to accomplish this? I haven't heard much about it in a while, so I don't know what's what these days.

Thanks, in advance.

[dougputhoff]

Why did you say you "had to quarantine" them?

Did it give you no other option? Btw, if it told you what the files were named and where they were located, you could always go directly to them and either delete or rename them. I like the rename option because it's easily reversed.

Well, I did try to clean or delete them, but my progam say they couldn't be cleaned or deleted.

[west3man]

Well, I did try to clean or delete them, but my progam say they couldn't be cleaned or deleted.
If you don't think quarantining them is enough (I've never found out what that meant, specifically), I'd suggest the renaming/deleting option I mentioned.

Best to make sure you know what the quarantine thing is, first, though.

[Typo Lad]

Jim: ANy luck?

West: You have several options. The best and free-est is VNC. Do a google.

[Slappy san]

anyone ever installed a Win-TV PVR?

if you have the time...give me a holler on YIM or MSN.

[west3man]

http://vpnlabs.org/

I considered that site, but I'm really hesitant because, often, when something like this is FREE, it's RIDDLED with spy-/adware.

Anyone have any specific suggestions for a tech-chicken?
----------------
I hope it worked out, Slap.anyone ever installed a Win-TV PVR?

if you have the time...give me a holler on YIM or MSN.

[west3man]

re: media center pc

For those who may be interested, there's an optional "personal media drive" that can slide into the front of the tower and used to extend one's storage capacity. The ones I've seen are 160GB. You don't need to open the tower to install or uninstall it and you don't need to turn the computer off (or reboot) in either case.

Also noteworthy is the fact that it can be used as an external harddrive since it's got a usb 2.0 connector (and maybe firewire, too, but I'm not sure).

I'm not RUSHING to get one, but I'm very interested.

[jessecuster]

So, here's My question. An acquaintance used to tell me about a utility or application that allows one to access one computer remotely from another. One would actually SEE the desktop of the other computer, as well as being able to manipulate the mouse and whatnot.

It occurred to me that if I could get that system set up properly (and securely), it'd be pretty cool for situations like today's.

Morts wanted a show recorded, but I was at work and planned to go somewhere before going home. If I'd had this thing set up with the media center pc, I could've reached through, as I like to call it, told it to record, then gone about my b'ness without having to come all the way back home, first.

I think that'd be pretty cool for the above and other similar applications. Anyone know what it'd take to accomplish this? I haven't heard much about it in a while, so I don't know what's what these days.

Thanks, in advance.


Theres a few of them out there, pc anywhere, VNC, goto my pc, and some others. I haven't used pc anywhere in a while, but back in the day it was good, I LOVE VNC and think its the best. I only know goto my pc from advertising.


Pc Anywhere (http://www.symantec.com/pcanywhere/Consumer/index.html)

VNC (http://www.realvnc.com/)

Goto My PC (https://www.gotomypc.com/tr/ggp/BL/my_pc/g25ggllp?Target=mm/g25ggllp.tmpl)

[west3man]

Theres a few of them out there, pc anywhere, VNC, goto my pc, and some others. I haven't used pc anywhere in a while, but back in the day it was good, I LOVE VNC and think its the best. I only know goto my pc from advertising.


Pc Anywhere (http://www.symantec.com/pcanywhere/Consumer/index.html)

VNC (http://www.realvnc.com/)

Goto My PC (https://www.gotomypc.com/tr/ggp/BL/my_pc/g25ggllp?Target=mm/g25ggllp.tmpl)
Thanks, jc.

[Typo Lad]

Sniff. You thank Jesse for vnc, but not I, who said it first.

OH THE SADNESS

[west3man]

Sniff. You thank Jesse for vnc, but not I, who said it first.

OH THE SADNESS
Thanks, Morts.

The Google search produced a number of results. I wasn't sure which to choose, so I asked for more information then thanked the person who supplied it.

[Slappy san]

I hope it worked out, Slap.

Eventually. I was up til 3am trying to do it. Had to come back the next and do it two more times for it to work.

[west3man]

1) I can't seem to get a VPN connection across my router. In other words, if one computer's IN my home network and another one's not, I can't seem to do the VPN thing between'em. Within the network, it seems to work fine, though.

2) I purchased a usb bluetooth adapter (I LOVE that I can use it on whichever computer I choose). It seems to be finicky as HELL, though. One moment the Treo is recognized and the next it isn't. Kinda weird, but I haven't tried it on multiple machines, yet.

Anyway, I'm less concerned about that than I am about the fact that even when Treo IS recognized, I can't seem to sync via that bluetooth connection. I a message saying the hotsync couldn't be initiated because the port's in use by another application. I have yet to overcome this issue.


Any help would be appreciated.

[west3man]

For the Treo 600:

http://store.treocentral.com/store_images/product_images/accessories/large/86.jpg

[Smell]

Arghhh.

My 2g iPod has stopped playing in stereo.

sad face.

Having looked about the net, it seems repair shops haven't got any 2g spares, and apparently the problem is the break down of a soldered connection between the socket and some plate within the pod.

I've got some pages and a magazine about opening an iPod and changing the battery, but have never tried even this, also I've never used a soldering iron.

i am feeling slightly anxious about opening the thing myself, but can't afford to send it away to fix it.

Any advice or experience, or a step by step breakdown for iPod repairs would be appreciated.

Dom

iSmells

[Typo Lad]

You can get replacement headphone jackss and instructions on installing them on ebay.

[Smell]

Thanks Mort.

btw here's what I found
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/macuser/features/67347/replacing-your-ipods-hard-disk.html?searchString=ipod+repairs+ipod+repairs+r epair+repaired+repairing

http://www.pdasmart.com/ipodpartscenter1g.htm

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=67838&item=5778700329&rd=1#ShippingPayment

now all I need is a soldering iron!

dom

iSmells

[Typo Lad]

No problem. I learned this from 13th's dead iPod that she sent me.

Which since developed other problems and was passed on to someone else, but it was fun while it lasted.

[Slappy san]

Anyone own a LifeDrive (http://www.palmone.com/us/products/mobilemanagers/lifedrive/)?

[Typo Lad]

Anyone own a LifeDrive (http://www.palmone.com/us/products/mobilemanagers/lifedrive/)?

Nope, and I wouldn't. Any PDA without a removable battery is an instant "no purchase".

I have a more detailed critique a page or two ago.

[west3man]

I got the Treo to sync via Bluetooth. It successfully Hotsynced on two different computers. I'm very pleased.

Among other things, this means that the tiny lil Bluetooth adapter I got for a steal on Memorial Day weekend, was NOT too good to be true.

Now I'm wishing I had more.


By the way, Morts, what'd you think of that Treo 600 hard case, if anything?

[Typo Lad]

Now I'm wishing I had more.

The moto of the tech geek, ladies and gentlemen!

I still have that D-Link... somewhere. No sign of it.

By the way, Morts, what'd you think of that Treo 600 hard case, if anything?

Honestly? Didn't really notice it. Now that I see it, not bad. I like my case soluition right now, but that's an option.

---

So I sent that "letter from Tot" to Sync magazine. Here's hoping I get a nice shiny G5 out of her cuteness.

Meanwhile, my G3 is still dead. A new PMU battery did nothing. The MB is dead as disco.

But now, a story.

A few weeks back, as I was walking Tot home from daycare, I saw an IBM 300 GL sitting by a dumpster:

http://www.pc-laptop-center.com/media/ibm_300_pl_iso_500.jpg

Good little machines. The college used to use them back in the day. I opened it out of curiousity and saw that it was completely instact.

Took it home and saw that it works. Shoved a 40 GB drive in it and managed to get it running Windows 200 nicely.

Originally I was going to use it as a backup machine. But then fortune smiled upon me.

We were by Tot's g-d parents, also Mac geeks. I was admiring thier new Mac Mini when I saw that their G4, which they were supposed to give to the hubby's brother, was still there. Turns out he'd decided against taking it. I got all excited....until they said that they were giving it to a friend who couldn't afford a computer.

Undetered, I casually mentioned that if said friend maybe liked PCs better, I had one.

Just got informed the swap is a go!

So I'm getting a G4 for a machine in the trash. YAY.

I just have to find a modem for it. Also adding a CD burner and a faster MB/chip from a co-worker. It's a Pentium. No numerals, just a pentium.

[west3man]

I love stories like that.

[Typo Lad]

And Apple's not only porting OS X to Intel, but it's always been able to run Intel! An entirte program was ported in TWO HOURS.

Wow.

HELLO viruses!

[west3man]

For those of you who may find this a useful tech solution, I keep a thumb-sized usb bluetooth adapter with me (I'd keep it on my keychain like a jump-drive, if I could) so that I can go from one non-bluetooth-equipped computer to another.

They recommend not hooking it up until the software's been installed, so I'm not sure what the best non-clunky way to address that would be. As it stands, I've put the software on my work computer and two of my home computers. I'll probably put it on the third one soon, but am in no rush. I should try to hook it up without their software and see if XP has generic drivers which would do the trick. If so, that'd be tight.

Anyway, it's a convenient way to have bluetooth-enabled computers without having to purchase a bunch of expensive bluetooth cards. I only use it for exchanging files between my handheld and the computers, but I'm sure there are other applications.

I hope someone finds that useful. Later.

[Night]

It may also add a layer of protection for the computers since the USB drive would be the only one connected to bluetooth.

[west3man]

It may also add a layer of protection for the computers since the USB drive would be the only one connected to bluetooth.
I don't understand.

What usb drive?

[Night]

I don't understand.

What usb drive?
Nevermind.... I read that too quickly...

[Jade69/Legolaslady]

Tech Geeks! I need you!!
Lewis gave me instructions, but I don't remember now.
Ok - scenario. My parents got DSL complete with a dumb named router. All things 'net do NOT work except for internet explorer. AIM, MSN, even winamp all don't think the computer is connected to anything.
So lewis told me I had to get to the router setup site thingy, which I've done, and even set my parents up with a nice password and stuff. But I can't remember what the thing was called that I had to go into to do the stuff with the ports so that AIM, Winamp, and mozilla would work.

My options are as follows:

>> Dynamic DNS Setup
>> Call Schedule Setup
>> NAT Setup
>> RADIUS Setup
>> Static Route Setup
>> IP Filter/Firewall Setup
>> VPN and Remote Access Setup
>> UPNP Service Setup
>> VLAN/Rate Control

System Management
>> Online Status
>> VPN Connection Management
>> Configuration Backup / Restoration
>> SysLog Setup
>> Time Setup
>> Management Setup
>> Diagnostic Tools
>> Reboot System
>> Firmware Upgrade (TFTP Server)

[Nitmo]

How do I get rid of the miniature font enlargement that takes place on my computer? It enlarges miniature text to the size of larger text so this is the same size as this to me, only thinner.

[Night]

How do I get rid of the miniature font enlargement that takes place on my computer? It enlarges miniature text to the size of larger text so this is the same size as this to me, only thinner. You might try changing the font or the fornt size on your browser. On FireFox pulldown Tools->options->fonts&colors.

[Nitmo]

You might try changing the font or the fornt size on your browser. On FireFox pulldown Tools->options->fonts&colors.

Thanks, but I have AOhelL

[Typo Lad]

Thanks, but I have AOhelL

Well then, there's your problem right there!

[west3man]

Two things:

1) There's a firmware update for the Treo 650 (and maybe previous models) that *I* didn't have, yet. Among other things, it's supposed to increase the volume (connection quality?) through a bluetooth headset. I think it's also supposed to make a change which results in more efficient usage of the Treo's memory... in other words, more memory. There are other advantages, I think.

I updated my phone a day or two, ago, and I've had fewer difficulties hearing when I'm in my truck or talking to people who are usually hard to hear. So, FYI.


2) I'm sometimes concerned that I look like I'm bragging as opposed to just celebrating a common love (and recent acquisition of) technology. Since Morts has mentioned stuff he's gotten for free, I'm hoping it'll be safe for me to mention this:

My job had a "lottery" which allowed randomly chosen associates to take home laptop and desktop systems which had been cycled out. Not everybody won, but I did. I got a laptop with docking station, separate drives, a case for it, a couple power cords, etc.

Kinda neat.

[Typo Lad]

My job had a "lottery" which allowed randomly chosen associates to take home laptop and desktop systems which had been cycled out. Not everybody won, but I did. I got a laptop with docking station, separate drives, a case for it, a couple power cords, etc.

Sweet. What make/model?

[west3man]

Sweet. What make/model?
It's an older DELL. I'm not sure about the exact model, but it's got a 700MHz processor. Which processor? I'm sorry to say that I don't remember, at the moment.

[west3man]

Regarding the memory-related part of the Treo update, I found that I had a relative TON of storage space left after the update. I don't know why. Maybe it's what I had before I loaded a bunch of crap on my phone, but I've restored most of the stuff that I wiped out to do the upgrade and the leftover capacity still seems impressive. *shrugs*

That reminds me. *reinstalls Ms. Pac-Man*

Anyway, it certainly seems like it was worth the effort.

[west3man]

Umm.... I remembered that the laptop's got a quarter of a Gig o' RAM, usb ports, and a ~30GB hd.

[Typo Lad]

Umm.... I remembered that the laptop's got a quarter of a Gig o' RAM, usb ports, and a ~30GB hd.

What make and model?

[west3man]

What make and model?
http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showpost.php?p=1486078&postcount=690

Same answer, I'm afraid.

[Typo Lad]

Ah.

Missed that one.

Dell's not bad.

I might have an extra floppy and CD drive for it if you cna find the model.

Never hurts to have spare parts.

[west3man]

These last couple posts make me feel better about times in the past when you haven't responded to my posts. Then, again, I got on your nerves once when I thought you'd missed a post of mine.

Crap. I thought I'd solved something for a second, there.Ah.

Missed that one.

Dell's not bad.

I might have an extra floppy and CD drive for it if you cna find the model.

Never hurts to have spare parts.
I appreciate it, but...


http://forums.comicbookresources.com/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=1486060

re: " My job had a "lottery" which allowed randomly chosen associates to take home laptop and desktop systems which had been cycled out. Not everybody won, but I did. I got a laptop with docking station, separate drives, a case for it, a couple power cords, etc. "

Thanks for the offer, though. The drives I meant are floppy, cd, and "super," I believe. I don't think I'll find that last one particularly useful, but maybe it'll be a convenient way to back-up stuff.

I probably should test those drives, first, though.

[west3man]

Morts, it's a Dell PP01S.

Nothing fancy, like I said, but it's neat techery. :D

[west3man]

Anyone know the capacity of a "super-drive," btw? There may be multiple correct answers, for all I know.

[Typo Lad]

Anyone know the capacity of a "super-drive," btw? There may be multiple correct answers, for all I know.

There ais more than one answer yes.

The original "super drive" was what is commonly known as an LS-120 drive. Dunno what the LS stood for, but the 120 stood for the fact that it held 120 MB. Larger than the prevalent-at-time-of-conception ZIP drives, but still backwards compatible with 1.4 MB floppies (and in some cases, Sony's abortive 2.5 MB floppies).

Later on in life, the LS-250 came out, to almost no fanfair. The rest of the world had moved on to CD media and the floppy form factor was already begining to be phased out. Offering no capacity benifits over the then-top of the line 250 MB ZIP models, even hard core Mac users ignored these (The LS-120 was heavily prmoted to be the "imac floppy drive" by third parties).

Now, the term 'Super Drive" is used by Apple to refer to their DVD and CD burning drives found in almost every product line's high end model.

[west3man]

There ais more than one answer yes.

The original "super drive" was what is commonly known as an LS-120 drive. Dunno what the LS stood for, but the 120 stood for the fact that it held 120 MB. Larger than the prevalent-at-time-of-conception ZIP drives, but still backwards compatible with 1.4 MB floppies (and in some cases, Sony's abortive 2.5 MB floppies).

Later on in life, the LS-250 came out, to almost no fanfair. The rest of the world had moved on to CD media and the floppy form factor was already begining to be phased out. Offering no capacity benifits over the then-top of the line 250 MB ZIP models, even hard core Mac users ignored these (The LS-120 was heavily prmoted to be the "imac floppy drive" by third parties).

Now, the term 'Super Drive" is used by Apple to refer to their DVD and CD burning drives found in almost every product line's high end model.
Neat. Thanks, a lot, Morts.

I'm home, now. It looks like the "introductory disk" they gave me (which I assume came with the laptop, but was never used... many of our staff-members are techophobes) is of the 120MB variety. Dunno if the drive, itself, supports the 250's, but I wouldn't think so.

[west3man]

Morts, it's a Dell PP01S.

Nothing fancy, like I said, but it's neat techery. :D
It's a DELL Lattitude L400. Not sure how the model number relates to that.

Electronics with multiple part numbers... *shrugs*

Anyway, I got this muggg online. I tested the drives and they seem to work well enough. I also installed a wireless network card. Guess who's posting at CBR from his wireless home network on a "dinosaur" laptop.

That's right! It's ME! :D

You'd be surprised how hard it was to find a suitable driver. If I lose that disk, I dunno what I'll do in the future. I'm not like "MortsgIver", who can use a stick of gum and a toothpick to get a car stereo online. ;)

[Typo Lad]

It's a DELL Lattitude L400. Not sure how the model number relates to that.

Electronics with multiple part numbers... *shrugs*

Welcome to Dell.

Anyway, I got this muggg online. I tested the drives and they seem to work well enough. I also installed a wireless network card. Guess who's posting at CBR from his wireless home network on a "dinosaur" laptop.

That's right! It's ME! :D

I was gonna say Royal.

That said, it's got good specs and should last a while. Good on you.

You'd be surprised how hard it was to find a suitable driver. If I lose that disk, I dunno what I'll do in the future.


www.driverguide.com

UN Drivers
PW All

I'm not like "MortsgIver", who can use a stick of gum and a toothpick to get a car stereo online. ;)

Aww, shucks.

And I couldn't do that. I'd need a router, a pringles can, and a couple of wire hangers.

[Puma]

hey! isn't it still Shabbos?

[Typo Lad]

hey! isn't it still Shabbos?

maybe in your time zone dahlink. Shabbos was over at 9:21 PM.

[west3man]

Anyone have any hints or suggestions about how to get a Windows 2000 machine onto a network of Windows XP machines?

Too much of my networking experience took place in the XP-era, I'm afraid.

[Typo Lad]

Anyone have any hints or suggestions about how to get a Windows 2000 machine onto a network of Windows XP machines?

Too much of my networking experience took place in the XP-era, I'm afraid.

Um...damn... hands on I can do this...

Go into control panel, set TCP/Ip settings, and you should be fine.

[west3man]

Um...damn... hands on I can do this...

Go into control panel, set TCP/Ip settings, and you should be fine.
I know where those settings are. I just don't know what to do with them.

Should I make them mirror my XP T