Tech/Computers General Discussion

[Syndicate]

Do it...

[NOTKyle]

OMFG MAcZ R BETTER

[Gary_Busey]

Linux anyone?

I came across OpenSolaris (http://www.opensolaris.org/os/) today. Looks pretty nice for those who write code. If I can get my hands on another laptop from work, I'm thinking about loading this on it, just as a development environment to fuck around on.

[NOTKyle]

I've never seen seen a Linux system with my own eyes.

[Gary_Busey]

If you're curious and have a USB thumb drive, you could try this.

http://www.althack.com/2006/03/10/how-to-run-linux-on-a-usb-drive/

[Syndicate]

I am helping set-up an ASP Message Board for the company I work for, and it's such a fucking joke. It's like vBulletin minus 80% of the options and general greatness. Fucking ASP is so retarded. Don't ever get in with a company that works primarily with it. It'll make you sick.

[Cracker]

Yeah, I can believe that. Microsoft software stack, oh yeah!

[Gary_Busey]

Ignorance is hilarious. Apparently, a teacher in Austin, TX found one of her students demonstrating a Linux distro to other kids in the class and handing out LiveCDs. She took all the CDs and sent the founder of the distro, which is HeliOS, this awesomely stupid letter.

"...observed one of my students with a group of other children gathered around his laptop. Upon looking at his computer, I saw he was giving a demonstration of some sort. The student was showing the ability of the laptop and handing out Linux disks. After confiscating the disks I called a confrence with the student and that is how I came to discover you and your organization. Mr. Starks, I am sure you strongly believe in what you are doing but I cannot either support your efforts or allow them to happen in my classroom. At this point, I am not sure what you are doing is legal. No software is free and spreading that misconception is harmful. These children look up to adults for guidance and discipline. I will research this as time allows and I want to assure you, if you are doing anything illegal, I will pursue charges as the law allows. Mr. Starks, I along with many others tried Linux during college and I assure you, the claims you make are grossly over-stated and hinge on falsehoods. I admire your attempts in getting computers in the hands of disadvantaged people but putting linux on these machines is holding our kids back.

This is a world where Windows runs on virtually every computer and putting on a carnival show for an operating system is not helping these children at all. I am sure if you contacted Microsoft, they would be more than happy to supply you with copies of an older verison of Windows and that way, your computers would actually be of service to those receiving them..."

http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2008/12/linux-stop-holding-our-kids-back.html

[Jackcraver]

how fucking retarded is that.

"Mr. Starks, I along with many others tried Linux during college."

this instructor makes Linux sound like it is some kind of street drug. Also to point out this teacher can not be very old. Linus Torvalds produced his first version of the Linux OS in very early 1990's less than 18 years ago. The instructor obviously has never heard of the GNU project or even knew why Linux was created in the first place. The instructor must have been thinking of Unix which is a very expensive proprietary software.

"I am sure if you contacted Microsoft, they would be more than happy to supply you with copies of an older verison of Windows"

I am sure Microsoft would laugh in your face if you called them and asked them this.

[Gary_Busey]

Haha, yeah, that's what I was thinking. She talks about it like it's pot and she didn't inhale in college. Starks' response is awesome though.

[Jackcraver]

I love the:

"You have been trained well"

[Gary_Busey]

OpenSUSE 11.1 comes out on the 18th. Probably my favorite Linux distro and KDE4 is pretty nice.

http://www.opensuse.org/en/

[Jackcraver]

I have always been a Debian guy myself. Especially if you use the fluxbox window manager. It is simple easy to configure and customize and it uses very little resources.

[Gary_Busey]

I'm going to be putting OpenSUSE 11.1 on my desktop, which is a pretty beefy system, so I'm not really concerned about resource conservation. You know anything about 64bit Linux distros? I know 32bit Linux distros can use 4GB of ram or more, and that's really the only reason I have a 64bit version of Vista. Are there any real, tangible improvements with going 64 over 32 in Linux?

[oculus]

i have just started trying out diffrent linux distro's really wanted to try out opensuse but could not get my display to work with it, also in lamens terms do not under stand diffrence between KDE and Gnome enviroments?

[Gary_Busey]

i have just started trying out diffrent linux distro's really wanted to try out opensuse but could not get my display to work with it, also in lamens terms do not under stand diffrence between KDE and Gnome enviroments?
They're just different desktop environments, which basically means menus are a little different and the styles look different. My suggestion would be to download some virtualization software, like Virtualbox, and try out the different desktop environments and see it for yourself.

[oculus]

any idea about my display not working i have ati radeon 7500 and install goes great but then when i reboot, monitor says it can not display video mode?
have tried to google but no recommended solution worked, or i am just to dumb to follow directions

[Gary_Busey]

I'm not exactly sure. What I'd do is find the official forums for whatever distro you're using and post a question in there.

[s0bv1ou5lyd3sprt]

OpenSUSE 11.1 comes out on the 18th. Probably my favorite Linux distro and KDE4 is pretty nice.

http://www.opensuse.org/en/

So did you do this yet? How is it?

[Gary_Busey]

I want.

http://www.osnews.com/story/20736/Trends_Are_Cyclical_the_Asus_Eee_Keyboard

[Erased]

I 2nd that.

[Skybase]

Damn, that's pretty kewl. Besides the awesome touchscreen, I actually am quite interested in the wireless HDMI!

[Gary_Busey]

Certs. Whose got what? I'm gonna go for my CCNA at the end of the semester. I've been putting it off because I didn't want to pay for it but I need to get at least my CCNA before I graduate.

[Le Goat]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/01/1-25-09-amd_oc_cpu.jpg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB0JodKgZ0A)

Ha, and you thought a 3DMark06 score of 5,086 was intense when AMD's Phenom II was overclocked (http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/23/amd-phenom-ii-processor-bought-benchmarked-coveted/) to a blistering 3.85GHz. Just after CES, a team of hardcore speed freaks with access to liquid nitrogen and liquid helium (http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/21/amd-overclocks-the-snot-out-of-phenom-ii-processors/) created an environment for OC'ing one of AMD's latest Phenom II X4 chips in -232 degrees Celsius weather. Once the silicon was appropriately chilled, they proceeded to push the clock speed to a staggering 6.5GHz, which proved nimble enough to deliver a patently absurd 45,474 3DMark05 score. The best part? The adoring public was there to bear witness, and every nail-biting second of it is hosted up in the video just past the break.

wB0JodKgZ0A

[Le Goat]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/01/1-24-09-jolicloud.jpg (http://www.jolicloud.com/)

See that? That's what could be on your netbook (http://www.engadget.com/tag/netbook/) later this year. Out of nowhere, one Tariq Krim has crafted the Jolicloud operating system, which is an OS designed specifically for those miniaturized laptops that rely on underpowered CPUs and less RAM than any PC should be booted up with. In essence, Jolicloud is a modified flavor of Linux (http://www.engadget.com/tag/Linux/) that promises faster boot times than other alternatives, and judging by the shot above, it's pretty heavily reliant on icon-based navigation. Hit the read link to keep tabs on its release date.

[Via Engadget German (http://de.engadget.com/2009/01/23/jolicloud-erster-screenshot-des-netbook-cloud-betriebssystem/)]


Read (http://www.jolicloud.com/) http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.engadget.com/media/icon-external.gif (http://www.jolicloud.com/)

[Kerjack]

Ha, and you thought a 3DMark06 score of 5,086 was intense when AMD's Phenom II was overclocked (http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/23/amd-phenom-ii-processor-bought-benchmarked-coveted/) to a blistering 3.85GHz. Just after CES, a team of hardcore speed freaks with access to liquid nitrogen and liquid helium (http://www.engadget.com/2008/11/21/amd-overclocks-the-snot-out-of-phenom-ii-processors/) created an environment for OC'ing one of AMD's latest Phenom II X4 chips in -232 degrees Celsius weather. Once the silicon was appropriately chilled, they proceeded to push the clock speed to a staggering 6.5GHz, which proved nimble enough to deliver a patently absurd 45,474 3DMark05 score. The best part? The adoring public was there to bear witness, and every nail-biting second of it is hosted up in the video just past the break.



I've always hated 3dmark and their tarded scoring system. Squeak out a extra 5 mhz?! DOUBLE YOUR SCORE!

[Le Goat]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/01/charter-logo-20090129-400-2.jpg (http://www.usnews.com/blogs/daves-download/2009/1/28/charter-to-launch-nations-fastest-broadband-service.html)

Still waiting for Verizon's FiOS (http://www.engadget.com/tag/fios) to come and light up your neighborhood with blistering download speeds? Now you have something even faster to wait for, with Charter Communications announcing it is launching a 60Mbps broadband service, utilizing DOCSIS 3.0 (http://www.engadget.com/tag/docsis) to fit more bits in the same pipes -- not quite the 160Mbps Comcast predicted (http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/30/comcast-ceo-sees-160mbps-internet-in-2008/), but we'll take it. What the company isn't announcing is when people will be able to tap into this or how much they'll pay for the privilege, but hopefully it'll be a little less than the $140 Verizon is charging.

Update: We found word (http://www.multichannel.com/article/162928-Charter_Turns_Internet_Dial_To_60_Mbps.php?rssid=2 0059) of prices and, go figure, the service costs exactly the same as FiOS: $140 per month. But, you can save $10 if you bundle it with TV or phone service.

[Gary_Busey]

So, for those that work in IT, what kind of desktop deployment systems, if any, do you use? We're using Ghost right now but we're planning a switch to MDT.

[Syndicate]

So, for those that work in IT, what kind of desktop deployment systems, if any, do you use? We're using Ghost right now but we're planning a switch to MDT.

The place I work at just orders fresh machines with XP Pro, then uses group policies to push out all installs on first boot of any appropriate apps. The only work it really requires for the network admins is joining it to the domain. This is also how our admins handle any upgrades for shit like antivirus, and productivity suites like Office. As far as formats, unfortunately our boss doesn't believe in it because of the turnaround rate in employees in our field. ******* quit all the time cause they can't handle the heat. He never wants to lose ANY file though, hence we never format a machine unless it is life or death. They used to use Ghost for back-ups, but since we never format or rarely switch a users PC for another used PC there was no need.

[Gary_Busey]

Yeah, we never accept PCs 'as-is'. We blow any new PCs away and push down our base-build, then go from there. If it's a developer machine, we manually install what the developer needs. We do use SMS adverts for some apps, mostly SAP and a few other things. We have to have a backup solution though, which has been Ghost, but that shit costs money.

[Le Goat]

i'll just leave this right here...


http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/03/3-2-09-asus-lamborghini-1tb-ssd.jpg (http://www.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=14515)

We're just now wrapping our heads around that 1TB SSD (http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/10/puresilicon-introduces-worlds-first-1tb-2-5-inch-ssd/) that pureSilicon launched in January, and already ASUS (http://www.engadget.com/tag/ASUS/) is looking to place us back in a state of disbelief with its newfangled Lamborghini VX5 laptop. Said machine, which is slated to debut tomorrow alongside a litany of other products here in Hannover, will sport a 1TB SSD, a Core 2 Quad CPU, 4GB of RAM and a 16-inch "Full HD" display. You'll also find a GeForce GT 130M graphics card with 1GB of GDDR3 memory, an illuminated "chiclet" style keyboard and a Blu-ray optical drive to boot. Needless to say, this one's aimed at those not fazed by stratospheric price tags, and we're saying that well before the MSRP has been made public. Call it a hunch... or just superb deductive reasoning.

[Via Electricpig (http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2009/03/02/asus-lamborghini-vx5-laptop-world-first-with-1tb-ssd/)]

[Le Goat]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/03/3-3-09-wd-8tb-sharespace.jpg (http://www.westerndigital.com/en/company/releases/PressRelease.asp?release=%7B9E174D63-E6F6-489A-BE41-5916B1B49D6A%7D)

Remember those absurdly capacious 2TB Caviar Green hard drives (http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/27/western-digitals-2tb-caviar-green-hard-drive-launches-gets-pre/) that Western Digital pumped out earlier this year? If not, WD's hoping to jar your memory by cramming no fewer than four of 'em into its newest, most spacious ShareSpace (http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/30/western-digitals-4tb-sharespace-nas-device-gets-introduced-and/) NAS ever. The four-bay device is now being offered in an 8TB flavor, and it promises to deliver up to 30 percent faster transfer speeds than prior models and to support DLNA media streaming. As with before, this one also doubles as an iTunes music server and comes bundled with the company's own Anywhere Backup software. Other specs include gigabit Ethernet, RAID 0/1/5 capabilities, an email alert system in case failure is imminent, a trio of USB 2.0 sockets and a built-in FTP server. It should be ready to house all of your, um, old tax documents (http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/02/ce-oh-no-he-didnt-part-xix-watkins-says-seagate-helps-peopl/) later this week for $1,699.99.

[Le Goat]

woah...

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/screenshots/418x627/2009/03/Cebit_Thermaltake_Level_10_PCGH__8_.jpg
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/external/gfx/icons/lupe.gif (http://www.pcgameshardware.com/?menu=browser&article_id=678000&image_id=984989)
Thermaltake Level 10: Sneak Preview at the Cebit 2009 (26) [Source: view picture gallery]


The Level 10 doesn't look like a traditional PC case. Instead of putting all the components into a big box, motherboard, hard drives, optical drives and PSU got their own compartments that are attached to a massive pedestal. For the design Thermaltake cooperated with the BMW Group Designworks USA. During development the visual appearance was, besides the new concept, one of the most important objectives.

The case will officially be introduced at the Computex, which starts on June3. At the Cebit we had a chance to take a look at the Level 10. Thermaltake mainly used aluminum to build their new product. The employees at the booth didn't give us a official price, but we estimate that the Level 10 will cost between 450 and 600 Euro. In our gallery you can find several pictures of the case.


Link to Pics (http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,678000/Thermaltake-Level-10-PC-case-with-BMW-concept/News/)

[dadaelus]

I'm still waiting for the porn version of this:

http://i39.tinypic.com/347jzbk.jpg

[s0bv1ou5lyd3sprt]

woah...



Link to Pics (http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,678000/Thermaltake-Level-10-PC-case-with-BMW-concept/News/)

I don't get it.

[Le Goat]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/03/great-pyramid-pc-mod_1.jpg (http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=85160)
Casemods range from the peculiar (http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/07/cinematographhd-case-mod-conceals-monster-video-editing-rig/) to the spaceage (http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/13/battlestar-galactica-case-mod-adds-a-touch-of-class-and-exciteme/), but this one -- a pyramid PC case -- kinda takes things to the next level of outrageousness (http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/22/steampunk-frankenstein-casemod-sure-to-anger-luddites/). Weighing in at 7.5 pounds (just for the case) this 25-inch high beast is not exactly compact, with a 19 x 19-inch base. Modder polo360x made it from a customized Luxor pyramid case, and, and in our opinion, it fits in nicely with his home decor choices. Check out another two shots and hit the read link for many, many more, plus a full specsheet.

[Via Geeky Gadgets (http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/?p=11729)]




http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/03/casemodmarch200911.jpg

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2009/03/march2009casemod5.jpg

[STDSkillz]

ASUS unveils dual-socket LGA 1366 'Gainestown' motherboard

Nehalem-EP, Skulltrail replacement


This morning at CeBIT, ASUS took the motherboard spotlight again with the announcement of its dual-socket, LGA 1366, Z8NA-D6 enthusiast desktop motherboard. Quickly titled the "first dual-processor ATX motherboard," this makes an interesting solution for the aging dual-socket LGA 771 Skulltrail desktop platform of yesteryear.

The board ultimately begins the generation of Intel's Nehalem-EP (Efficient Platform), which consists of dual Xeon 'Gainestown' CPUs and two QPI links per chip. One link communicates with the Tylersburg chipset while the other link communicates with the second processor, both at 25.6GB/s bidirectional bandwidth.

Because the Nehalem platform also consists of Simultaneous MultiThreading support, this desktop board is capable of running no less than 16 virtual cores on two of Intel's new Xeon 5500-series CPUs.

Additional specs of the board include 14 SATA ports, one PCI-E x16 slot, two PCI-E x8 slots, and six DDR3 memory slots capable of up to 24GB with unbuffered DIMMs and 48GB with registered DIMM modules. Moreover, power is drawn using a 24 + 8 pin connector supporting both desktop ATX and server SSI power supplies.

Pricing and availability information have not been released yet, but we can probably expect a release around the end of this month to coincide with Intel's Xeon 5500-series CPU launch on March 28th.

http://www.fudzilla.com/images/stories/2009/March/CeBIT/asus_z8na-d6.jpg

Lolz overkill.

[Gary_Busey]

Dell takes on the Air.

http://hothardware.com/News/Dell-Unleashes-the-Adamo/

[Le Goat]

http://www.oled-display.net/images/lighting/modistech-oled-light.jpg
Modistech unveiled its flexible ultra-thin OLED light Ultra-Thin & OLED Light in Korea market.
Mass production will begin later next year and will retail for approximately $212 after conversion for each 1 square meter in 2011.
Especially, the Oled light (http://www.oled-display.net/oled-lighting) supporting light source for white color can be substituted for LCD backlight.
Modistech is researches and developing company in OLED technology. There are two main division R&D Center and R&C group.
By using roll to roll machine, hybcap film can be also dapted to flexible OLED encapsulation.
Thus hybcap film development for flexible OLED Display will be completed in short time suggested Modistech.
The basic developments for sheet type lighting source with OLEDs are already finished with hybrid encapsulation technology.
For the mass production of OLED sheet type lighting source in the near future, Modistech are designen the process with machine.
Only for a few days Displaysearch released a new Oled lighting report (http://www.oled-display.net/oled-lighting-goes-mainstream-in-2011), the main message from this report is that the OLED lighting era begins in 2011.
via aving.net (http://us.aving.net/news/view.php?articleId=119491) and http://www.modistech.com (http://www.modistech.com/)
http://www.oled-display.net/images/lighting/modistech-oled-lighting-device.jpg
http://www.oled-display.net/images/lighting/oled-light-modistech.jpg

[Le Goat]

I don't consider this 'news' worthy, per se, so it's goin here


www.engadget.com/2009/04/19/automakers-agree-on-common-plug-to-recharge-electric-vehicles/ (http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/19/automakers-agree-on-common-plug-to-recharge-electric-vehicles/)

just replace the text with the actual .

;)

[Le Goat]

Man, Time Warner Cable -- you are some shady players. Hot on the heels of the ISP's decision to from areas that have rejected DOCSIS 3.0 it's tier billing planwe're hearing that TWC's teamed up with Embarq to persuade the North Carolina state government into banning community-owned broadband services. Why? Well, turns out the 47,000 residents of Wilson, NC got tired of paying for slow broadband, so the city government launched its own fiber ISP called Greenlight that offers some pretty solid packages ranging from $99 for 81 cable channels, unlimited phone service, and 10Mbps (down and up) internet to $170 for every single channel including premiums and 20Mbps up/down internet. (There's even a "secret" 100Mbps up/down internet plan.) Of course, these prices blow TWC and Embarq out of the water -- the comparable basic Time Warner plan has fewer channels and less bandwidth for an "introductory rate" of $137 -- and rather than compete, the two giants decided to lobby the North Carolina legislature into proposing bills that outlaw community services like Greenlight. The argument is that the big companies can't turn a profit and compete against a community-owned enterprise that essentially sells service for cost, but we're not buying it -- if anything, TWC and Embarq can invest the extra profits they've been earning in other areas into building services that would blow Greenlight out of the water. Yep, it's definitely some dirty pool -- does anyone have any positive feelings left for these behemoths?

http://ww.engadget.com/2009/04/22/time-warner-and-embarq-cant-compete-with-city-owned-isp-trying/#comments

[Gary_Busey]

I've heard about that service in Wilson. Pretty bad ass, I live about 40 minutes down the road from there and I'm stuck with shitty Suddenlink.

Anyone upgraded to Ubuntu 9.03 yet? Thoughts? Impressions? I'm in the process of upgrading.

[Claydon]

So I am not sure if this is the appropriate thread or not so feel free to move it.

I am wondering if you any of you have purchased a GPS unit (separate from a vehicle purchase). I am starting to do some research on them and I DO NOT want a cheap piece of shit.

Any suggestions for brands/models?

[papillon]

So I am not sure if this is the appropriate thread or not so feel free to move it.

I am wondering if you any of you have purchased a GPS unit (separate from a vehicle purchase). I am starting to do some research on them and I DO NOT want a cheap piece of shit.

Any suggestions for brands/models?
Bought a cheap Magellan from Costco last year for $150. Works like a charm & came pre-loaded with maps for US & Canada. Love it.
My only beef is it doesn't do waypoints. If I ever buy another one, I'll be sure to get one with waypoints I can set myself.

[s0bv1ou5lyd3sprt]

Get a Garmin...with text to speech.

[Trident]

Get a Garmin...with ass to mouth.

[Le Goat]

The amazingly hot Mechanics daughter (that story coming on Monday) let me use her Garmin Uvi(I think that was the model) and that thing was a life saver. I recommend them, but haven't really tried others.

[Das Kahlua]

Let's say that I wanted to retrieve some old AIM conversations that I had, I know that they are logged somewhere because they have been retrieved for me before by a 3rd party, how would I go about doing that myself?

[satandole666]

There should be a log folder in the AIM program folder?

That's my best guess, I haven't used AIM in a while

[29a]

So I formatted my drive using the Windows 7 RC DVD and it took like 20 seconds.

Is that normal?

[mongo]

that's a tad faster then i've ever done it. but, whatever.

[29a]

The computer had viruses so my only concern in formatting was wiping them out. I hope that rapid format took them out.

[mongo]

have you run anything to check and see if they're still there?

[29a]

AVG detected it (Win32/Huer) before the formatting... but I've heard better things about Avira so that's what I installed on 7.
A full system scan with Avira returned only 2 warnings (two system files that coulnd't be opened) and no infections, so I'm hoping it got it.

[mongo]

yeah, sounds like you got it to me. then again, i don't dl sketchy gay pRonn in the first place, so whatev.

[29a]

You only download regular gay porn.

[jemeske]

In the past week or so, I keep getting a run time error whenever I use Flickr. I don't go to flickr often, so it may have been going on longer, but thus far I've only noticed it when I go to that site. Anyway, this error somehow fucks my internet connection and I have to restart to be able to get online again (as far as I can tell, but there is probably an easier solution than that). This happens in both firefox and ie.

[Hoser]

Use Chrome.

[jemeske]

Is Chrome actually sweet, because I've been somewhat unhappy with firefox's performance lately.

[mongo]

Chrome sucks face ballz.

[POO POO CANNON]

I use Chrome quite a bit, and I think it's pretty neat-o. Definatley worth a try. Don't miss Opera either. Chrome is very minimalistic, yet powerful, and Opera seems to have the whole browsing experience down to a science, but the skins are pretty ugly.They are both great, but vastly different.

[mongo]

Opera>firefox>ie>chrome

if google didn't log any of my shit on chrome, I'd like it more. Google is more intrusive than m$. I don't want them to see my cp searches.

[Rumpleforeskin]

So I was running Kaspersky on my desktop when my g/f decides to restart the computer. Now it won't load windows. I just get a black screen asking me if I want to start normally, start in safe mode, safe mode with networking, or return to previous state. No matter what I choose, it just cycles back to the same screen. If I choose nothing, it just continually restarts itself. Any help would be HOT.