Date: 02/06/08     Keywords: technology, security, web, microsoft, google

The most common question that I get in my inbox is...

Why don't you use Mac OS X?

Some of you are under the impression that I don't use Apple products, or anything that's not Microsoft. That's not true. I am, in all honesty, a company agnostic. I use an iPod, I use many of the Google products, I use a Playstation instead of an Xbox...I use tons of things that aren't made by Microsoft. And, I'll say it, Windows is the only thing that Mircrosoft has produced that I like.

I'm not being ignorant, I'm very open-minded about technology. I'm not a die-hard anything. If Microsoft put out an absolute stinker that didn't even work, you'd bet I'd switch over to Ubuntu or Mac OS in a heartbeat (or maybe I would just downgrade to the previous version of Windows).

Some of you are also under the impression that I've never even tried Mac OS X or any operating system besides Windows. Far from true. Just two weeks ago, I was running Ubuntu. I liked it, but I couldn't lose my Windows apps. I've got connections with people that run Macs, and they've let me work on their computers, and I'm a fairly experienced Mac OS X user (though that's not saying much).

I get this question at least once a day by IM, email, LJ-message, whatever, and I decided to post the answer here in a new weekly feature to this journal.

Before I begin, I want to make it clear that Mac OS X is a fantastic alternative to the world of Windows. If you're just using it for photos, web browsing, stuff like that, Mac OS X is great. If you're a power-user, though, you need an OS like Windows. Now, I bring you the reasons why I don't use Mac OS X.

User interface
The Menu Bar is too far away from your focus. When you have an application open, your focus is on the middle of the screen (I don't see why you would have a window maximized since the dock (I'll get to that later) is in the way, and the monitor is huge). The Menu Bar is all the way at the top, hundreds of yards away from your focus. I didn't even notice it the first few times I was using it.

The dock is just terrible. Icons for the same file type are exactly the same, so you can't tell what is what. It gets in the way. Didn't they learn to avoid things like this in GUI Design 101? The dock, while it looks great and is a great marketing strategy, doesn't do much for productivity. Windows' quick launch bar is way better.

Usability
When using Mac OS X, I found my productivity was cut by a fraction. It wasn't a big difference, but it was a significant one. Like I said, if you're a general user, Mac OS X is fine, but for me, I've got to have something where I can actually do important things. There are also articles on the web that put Windows and Mac OS X running on the exact same hardware (a Mac computer!), and found that Mac OS X was slower than Windows. On a Mac computer. Hey, it surprised me, too.

Security
I know, I know. Mac OS X has this big reputation about being the most secure OS on the planet. Even though it's not true, think about the users. Mac OS X has about 20% of the market share, the rest goes to Windows. That's over 250 million users, ladies and gentlemen.But, nonetheless, Mac OS X does have some security issues.

Time Machine, which is praised by Mac OS users, does it's job just a little too well. Let's say you downloaded a Trojan, and let's just say it deleted some of your data. You restore your data from Time Machine, but guess what? It restores that Trojan as well. My idea: when you remove something from your computer, a Trojan, it should ask you if you want it archived in the Time Machine. Just a little suggestion

Cost
Jesus Christ! $1,200 for an iMac with only 250GB of storage? $1,700 for a MacBook Air? This is ridiculous. I can buy a brand new HP computer with Windows installed, with 600GB of storage, for only about $800. Maybe the iMac should cost a little more, because it can run Windows, and it's the only machine that you can run Mac OS X on legally, and it doesn't have a tower, but not that much more. Maybe $900, maybe a little more. I'll be honest, though, I don't mind having a computer tower. Building a desktop computer using notebook computer parts just doesn't seem safe to me.

So, those are my main concerns about Mac OS X, and I why I won't use it. When Mac OS XI comes around, I might check it out, to see if there is any improvement, but until then, I'm a Windows user.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1149394.html

Date: 02/02/08     Keywords: yahoo, microsoft, google

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1148957.html

Date: 02/01/08     Keywords: no keywords

What's the best A+ certification book?

(apologies if this question is [unacceptable])

please direct me to another com if more pertinent.

Thanks.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1148877.html

Date: 01/30/08     Keywords: microsoft

Microsoft, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, please release the REAL Vista service pack 1 right NOW instead of kicking out stupid and retarded betas and release candidates!

I'm being forced to use Vista on my pre-infected laptop, so HURRY!!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1148241.html

Date: 01/29/08     Keywords: web

Hi, I'm new. I thought I'd join to get some answers about my crazy internet.
Here's the deal:
Awhile ago, my mum got broadband for her computer, which is in the same room as mine. This was provided by AOL, and with it came with a nice disc with instructions as to how to make it a wireless connection so that I can be on at the same time as her. So we got the adaptor and installed everything - but with no success. We tried EVERYTHING and nothing worked, it just wouldn't connect to the network (which we did set up).
So later on (a few months later) I got a brainwave, and thought 'hey, we don't HAVE to go wireless. There's multiple slots at the back, we'll jjst do it wired." So we did, and it worked fantastically. For about two months. Now every time I want to go on certain websites (e.g. Myspace, Hotmail, some Youtube videos, and other sites) it says 'Page cannot be displayed'/'The connection was reset'/'Action canceled' etc., you get the jist. But that's just for me. My mum can get on most websites (all of the ones I have mentioned not working for me at least). But sometimes the whole thing just conks out and neither of us can get anywhere. ALL pages take ages to load, sometimes pictures just half load.

In the error (I think it was the messenger troubleshoot thing) It says something about proxy settings, so I was wondering if it was just that some firewall or proxy (same thing? Sorry, quite bad with this) just reset themselves, or something, because that happened to my mum's old connection. She once pushed the reset button on the router, and that caused even more chaos, so I wouldn't want to try that.
Otherwise, I thought maybe the router is just dying. It gets really hot. The AOL lady we once called years ago (with a different problem) said that you need to unplug/switch off your router regularly otherwise it will die. We haven't really been doing it, but when we do it now it has absolutely no effect. We have another router which we could try  but, again, we're scared it'll just make the situation worse.

Can anyone suggest anything we can do? It's so frustrating not being able to check my emails and messages, and we're trying to put off calling up AOL for as long as possible because it's just a chore.

Thanks

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1148026.html

Date: 01/29/08     Keywords: no keywords

I KNOW I have asked this several times, but I can never remember the answer. I somehow lost the little computer icon things that tell me I am connected to the net. How do I go about getting it back?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1147779.html

Date: 01/28/08     Keywords: no keywords

If anyone reading this knows how to use HTTrack to download an entire LiveJournal account including private and friends-only entries, I'd like to know. There's a form password option which I tried to use unsuccessfully. So any help would be great.

X-posted to computerpros.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1147524.html

Date: 01/27/08     Keywords: asp

Okay, I am an idiot. I don't know anything about computers.

I accidentally deleted the Intel PRO/Wireless thingy from my programs, so now I can't connect to the internet. I have linksys, and I tried to reinstall the program on the laptop, and it wont let me. I found some sort of wireless driver online -- not that I have any clue what that is -- but it said the computer didn't have some file on it needed for the driver.

I have no clue which Intel PRO/Wireless that the computer had, and so I don't know which one i should be looking for.

I found this site: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=N&ProductID=2753&DwnldID=13000

How do I know which one to pick? Is this what I need in order to connect to the internet? The internet won't connect even with a wire now.

Grrrrr. Please help!!! Thank yoooou.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1147368.html

Date: 01/26/08     Keywords: no keywords

I have about 500GB of music (I know, I'm a bit obsessed!). I've collected so much that I'd like to rediscover some of the artists by playing everything on "shuffle" and seeing what comes up.

I currently use Winamp as a media player, but there are playlist item limits.

My question: does ANY player for a PC support such a thing? What would allow me to shuffle a 500GB music collection?

Thanks!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1147090.html

Date: 01/25/08     Keywords: software

I have bought a cheap USB adaptor for my computer which unfortunatly comes with some software called "bluesoleil". I really don't want to use this software, and was hoping that there was some alternative to this that I could use. I was able to get the driver loaded from the disk, but that doesn't do much of anything since there is no way (w/o installing the software) to send files, create a cable connection etc.

I did find this instruction guide, however it doesn't seem to work with my USB adaptor.

Any Ideas?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1146699.html

Date: 01/24/08     Keywords: no keywords

Yesterday I scanned a rare document (a 1945 IBM Reference Manual for the 405 Alphabetical Accounting Machine - we're doing a restoration) and was told to save it in TIFF multi-page format. I did, but because the document was somewhat problematical, several pages had to be re-scanned. Now I have the large original file and a couple of files of single pages. What's the best way to edit this? I want remove the bad scans and splice the better ones in? I have Photoshop, the Gimp, and FastStone Image Viewer. I don't even know where to start with this. Thanks.

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1146610.html

Date: 01/23/08     Keywords: php, templates

Is anyone familiar with how to make PHPBB Templates. I need to do them for a forum and if someone can do them for me, or point me in the right direction, it would be appreciated.

thanks!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1145787.html

Date: 01/22/08     Keywords: google

If you haven't gotten wind of all the stories floating out there right now (search Google news) looks like MS is calling it quits on Vista early and speeding up Windows 7 rollout.

I haven't been able to find screenshots, but there are a lot of references to them. Could some uber Google warrior around here find a few Windows 7 screenshots for me to look at? I'm at work right now and I can't do a lot of hunting.

TIA...

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1145489.html

Date: 01/22/08     Keywords: security, linux, microsoft

I'm a Windows fanboy (and, for the record, I don't care about your opinion. If Apple had 90% of the market share, all you Apple fanboys would be Microsoft nerds. Don't give me that crap about usability and security. Same for Linux geeks). Microsoft has a reputable OS, and if it were really terrible, it would have kicked the bucket by now. There's a reason they have most of the market share.

But I'll admit, there are features on other OSs UI that I like and would like to have on Windows, but not losing any particular Windows quality. I mean, the interface for Windows has been more or less the same since Windows 95.

I'm particularly talking about Mac OS X's dock. Or, specifically, I like the idea. The dock is really a problem for me. I used a Mac a few times, and the dock just got in the way of the applications I was trying to run. Still, the idea of not having to go to the desktop when I want to open something is great. (Windows' quick launch really isn't that great.)

So, for the last hour or so, I spent my time designing a new UI for Windows.



This is just a simple blueprint of what I imagined, so I used the Windows Classic theme. For the tiny icons, I used the icons that appear in the left hand corner of the window. This would look best in a more modern theme, like Vista. I also imagine the icons being bigger to take up space, and getting smaller when more space is used. But, again this is just a blueprint.

So, what are we seeing here? Well, we obviously have the Windows menu, which will serve it's basic functions. Then we have the taskbar icons. They will service like the icons on the desktop: you double click them, they open. When an application is open, they are added to the box you see on the right, which is for programs that are opened. When you minimize an application, you can reopen it by clicking it's icon in that box.

So, with this, what about the desktop? You can add widgets to it, or add whatever kind of eye candy you desire.

Well, that's my blueprint. (And I emphasize "blueprint". Don't give me crap saying that "why are you choosing it to look like boring Windows 98?".)

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1145127.html

Date: 01/21/08     Keywords: php

https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=212594

Enjoy!

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1144900.html

Date: 01/20/08     Keywords: ebay

Where do y'all buy your printer ink from?

Are refill kits worth the trouble?  Do they work?

Is there a good discount ink place online?

I've got a Canon Pixma MP470

Staples has a black/color combo pack (with photo paper) for $45, eBay has an OEM auction with both color and black cartridges listed for $32 (+$7 shipping) and there is a refill kit on eBay for $22 (+$5 shipping).

Thanks, y'all

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1144465.html

Date: 01/19/08     Keywords: no keywords

 I have a program on my computer called CyberLink Power Dvd. It was working fine and then one day a box popped up on the screen and I can't get it to go away. I shut down the program and its still there. Shut down my computer and its still there. The box says time, video, audio. It blocks out a good bit of the movies I watch. Is there anything I can do to make it go away?

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1143866.html

Date: 01/18/08     Keywords: virus

The Virus Cure

Your laptop has a virus?
Don't tuck it into bed.
Don't give it tea, no matter what
the family doctor said.

Don't take it to the school nurse.
Don't rest it for a week.
The only way to cure it is to
show it to a geek.

Bruce Lansky

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1143580.html

Date: 01/17/08     Keywords: php, software

I was doing research to see if it makes sense to upgrade my system from 3GB of RAM to 6GB (the 3GB is to stay under Windows XP's usage ceiling) for my copy of Vista 64bit Business that I'm dual-booting XP with, and I found this article:

http://www.bcchardware.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4276

The results are basically saying that going from 2 to 4 and even 8GB doesn't help in Vista 64. Here are some snippets:

-----------------------------------
Windows Vista 64-Bit

Cinebench (This test 3D rendering.)

2GB Patriot 6400 1322
4GB Crucial 6400 1369
4GB SuperTalent 6400 1307

The 4GB Crucial had a 3.5% increase in performance, but the 4GB Patriot had a 1.3% decrease in performance.

DVD-Shrink (Video and Audio Conversion Software.)

2GB Patriot 6400 3.39 Seconds
4GB Crucial 6400 3.39 Seconds
4GB SuperTalent 6400 4.15 Seconds
8GB Crucial/SuperTalent 4.09 Seconds

=================================

Company of Heroes

2GB Patriot 6400 58.5 fps
4GB Crucial 6400 58.6 fps
4GB SuperTalent 6400 58.4 fps
8GB Crucial/SuperTalent 58.5 fps

Again no real difference.

Lost Planet

Outdoors
2GB Patriot 6400 63 fps
4GB Crucial 6400 59 fps
4GB SuperTalent 6400 63 fps
8GB Crucial/SuperTalent 64 fps

Outdoors there was no real performance increase or decrease, aside from the 4GB Crucial sliding down 4 fps.

Indoors
2GB Patriot 6400 72 fps
4GB Crucial 6400 71 fps
4GB SuperTalent 6400 67 fps
8GB Crucial/SuperTalent 65 fps

As for indoors we lost 7 fps by the time we got up to the 8GB setup.

======================================
After seeing that I decided to not ratchet up the RAM any further than what I have already.

Hope this proves helpful to some of you who are being tempted with deals on 4GB kits :P

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1143351.html

Date: 01/16/08     Keywords: no keywords

Hi!

I want to show you my new game - Amaze! check it out.

here are some screenshots
screen1
screen2
screen3
screen4

Here it can be downloaded for FREE

Source: http://community.livejournal.com/computergeeks/1143214.html