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| 2005/12/30-2006/1/4 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:41180 Activity:nil 65%like:41172 |
12/29 A friend's primary Windows 2000 hard disk got nuked, and her
backup drive is missing data. I'm looking for any
recommendations for data recovery software for FAT/NTFS
(restoring deleted files or corrupted filesystems) or
recommendations for data recovery services in SF?
\_ Get an external USB drive enclosure. You want something
called GetDataBack (exists for FAT and NTFS.) It requires
some interaction (i.e. renaming files) but it'll find anything
that's not on physically damaged drive space. Before doing
this, consider booting either a Knoppix or BartPE CD to see
what you can rescue that way. Try dd'ing a copy of the disk on
a unix box before fiddling with it. If you have physical
damage, look for a Kroll partner--I think http://krollontrack.com
should help you find one. You're welcome to drop me a mail
too if this is important. -John
\_ thanks. this is cool !OP |
| 2005/12/29-30 [Reference/BayArea, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:41172 Activity:nil 65%like:41180 |
12/29 Any recommendations for data recovery software for FAT/NTFS
for restoring deleted files or corrupted filesystems?
Any recommendations for hard disk data recovery services in
the bay area around berkeley? |
| 2005/12/28-2006/1/4 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:41155 Activity:nil |
12/28 0 day windows exploit in the wild
http://isc.sans.org
\_ What's the innovaguest(?) site at the end of the movie? Is it
trying to phish or transfer funds or what?
\_ What the hell does the "0 day" part mean?
\_ seems to be the site where you can pay for winhound, if
you're clueless enough. it's like (secretly) poisoning a
guy, and then saying "oh look I happen to have an antidote
you can buy for $xxx." probably some russian hackers or so |
| 2005/12/27-30 [Computer/HW/Drives, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:41151 Activity:nil |
12/27 I'm trying to help out with my mother in law's computer problems. She
has two Windows XP computers (one desktop, one tablet pc) that she was
using for her job before she retired. The computers themselves are old
and her workplace doesn't want them back but they are installed with
all this corporate Novell stuff that I don't know anything about and
her account on the computer has very restricted permissions (she can't
even install any new programs on it). we can't get the admin password.
Is there a way to make these computers usable without reinstalling
the operating system?
\_ Obtain a copy of BART PE rescue disk. You can download this off of
a site or emule or torrent or what-have-you. I think the complete
ISO is about 720 megs big, so you'll have to stick it on a DVD
or overburn a CD-R. Boot it up, if you got the full version there's
a password recovery and regedit util on it. You can also get the
admin password recovered through a freeware NTPassword recovery
disk: http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd which also works
(I've used it many times). The computers will most likely not
have floppies or support booting off of it, so you'll have to
burn the CD version. No GUI though like BART PE (which is
essentially running WindowsXP through a CD). I suppose from there
you can see if you can revert the machine back to its original
state before they stuck Novell Netware on it (original save
point under system restore).
\_ From my experience with Novell, "usable": yes. "usable without
tearing your hair out": no. Novell tends to, and has as long as I
can remember, always put a lot of junk into the OS. I'd blow the
OS away unless you wanna play "pick the junk out of the registry"
for the next few months. If you want to just go with the "turn off
Novell" option, try to recover the admin password. There are a few
utilities on the internet that claim to help you do this, but I have
been largely unsuccessful in actually getting them to work. - jvarga
\_ This is fine and all for the desktop, but you might have trouble
finding a copy of Windows XP Tablet Edition to install on the
tablet. I doubt you can get the restore CDs from the co.
\_ Recover the admin password. STFW.
\_ http://home.eunet.no/~pnordahl/ntpasswd/bootdisk.html |
| 2005/12/22-24 [Computer/SW/Unix, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:41124 Activity:nil |
12/22 On XP, I have folders using Chinese characters. I also have
file names using Chinese characters. When I do a samba mount
from my Linux to XP, I can do everything if the file name
isn't using Chinese characters. How do I get around this
restriction? Thanks.
\_ you need to be specific on your XP's file system. FAT uses
legacy encoding. NTFS uses some sort of Unicode encoding
(I think it's UTF-16). I vaguely remember newer version of
samba handles unicode encoded filename rather well. |
| 2005/12/20-22 [Reference/Languages, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:41091 Activity:low |
12/20 I want to learn to input Chinese characters. What is the best
thing to learn, pinyin, jhooyin, romanization, etc? It's so
complicated when you have MPS2, Sin Wenz, Hanyu pinyin, Tongyong
pinyin, etc. When I was little I learned jhooyin but it seems
like it's becoming out of flavor.
\_ I'd recommend pinyin input. It matches the english typing skills
you already have.
\_ if you use Windows, my recommendation is actually get one of
those pen-input board. Nothing is more natural than writing the
character down. Otherwise, I recommend Han-Yu pinyin method. It
is by far most logical phonetic methods, and it doesn't require
specialized keyboard for it. Mind you that due to large number
of homophonetic characters, phonetic method tend to be slow.
\_ What software do you use with the pen-input board? The
built-in one has an unresizable square that you need to write
the character in.
\_ I urge you get one of those boards from the vendor and use
its software. Microsoft's built-in hand-writing software is
not quite there yet
\_ Which vendor? Can you recommend a set?
\_ I use PenPower with a 5x4 tablet for my church
work. It has several options in terms of writing
area. I actually prefer the unresizable box
(transparent with outline) even though it gets
in the way often, rather annoyingly. Another
option is where you can write anywhere on the
screen, but sometimes it gets confused (or it
gets me confused) in terms of whether you are
trying to write or clicking the mouse, etc.
Overall I am reasonably satisfied, but I
haven't tried any other systems, so can't
compare for you. I think typing is much faster
if you are willing to train, and of course you
don't need to carry a board around.
They sell the PenPower systems at:
http://www.asiazest.com - yet another poster
\_ I think it's interesting that the sensors in the
hardware everyone mentions are in the pad, not the
writting impliment. It seems to me that a brush
with sensors in the two ends might be a more elegant
solution, especially since you could use real ink
and make nicer looking characters on the hardcopy.
Just a thought.
\_ Thanks! I also found out that I can indeed resize
the Windows Chinese handwriting IME by dragging on
the right side of the character box. |
| 2005/12/10-12 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:40957 Activity:moderate |
12/10 Anyone here use Buzilla for work? On Windows? How's your experience
been? We're using an old version of DevTrack and would like to change
to something else.
\_ Bugzilla? Yes. What do you mean "On Windows"? You mean you want
to run on IIS?
\_ No, we're already running svn on apache2 for Windows (so it would
be with apache--we may be largely a windows shop but we're not
stupid enough to use IIS). Have you used anything other than
Bugzilla? How does it compare?
\_ We used Bugzilla on Solaris for years at PlanetOut. We are now
transitioning to Jira. I liked Bugzilla just fine. -ausman
\_ Why the transition then?
\_ The project managers and programmers didn't really like
it that much. It worked fine for IT project tracking,
but Jira is more flexible. I haven't used the latter
enough to have an opinion about it.
\_ I'm a programmer asking the question. What did the
programmers not like about it?
\_ We used Bugzilla on Linux for several years until Sun forced
us to switch to Bugtraq. Bugzilla wasn't perfect but it worked
fairly well. |
| 2005/12/1-3 [Computer/SW/Apps/Media, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:40797 Activity:nil |
11/30 How do you record to a file the video streams you watch on http://cnn.com or http://nightly.msnbc.com? Thanks. \_ Is it streaming windows media video? Try SDP. \_ Or ASFRecorder -John \_ Or mplayer |
| 2005/11/30-12/3 [Computer/SW/Apps/Media, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:40778 Activity:nil |
11/30 I need to send an AVI file to a WindowsME user.
DVIX, the codec i usually use, is supposedly not supported.
Anyone know of a codec or movie format that would work?Thanks.
\_ I'd be pretty suprised if MPEG2 didn't work. Or they could just
install the DivX codec.
\_ MPEG2 typically doesn't work unless you've installed a DVD player
program.
\_ You're thinking of MPEG1. Anyway, assuming the op meant DivX,
the WinME user simply could install ffdshow.
\_ Or VLC, or simply install the divx codec.
\_ VLC is completely awesome. http://www.videolan.org
\_ The other option is to get them to drop WinME. Microsoft
should have to pay an apology fee to everyone who had to use
that piece of trash.
\_ Or VLC.
\_ The WINME user was told to view the video using
realplayer, expecting that the correct codec would be
downloaded and installed. Instead it came back with the error
message about it not being supported. Sorry about the typo.
\_ Matroska codec pack. -John |
| 2005/11/23 [Academia/GradSchool, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:40709 Activity:nil 88%like:40718 |
11/23 White flight in Cupertino: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB113236377590902105-lMyQjAxMDE1MzEyOTMxNjkzWj.html |
| 2005/11/22-24 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Security] UID:40691 Activity:kinda low |
11/21 In windows I can disconnect anyone who's using shares on my computer.
How do I disconnect from shares I'm using on another computer--for
instance because I'm using a common computer and I want to revoke my
authentication?
\_ right-click and hit 'disconnect'? -John
\_ "net use /?" from cmd shell. --sky
\_ No, not a mapped drive. I mean I browse to \\server\dir and want
to close the explorer windows and when I browse again I get
reauthenticated.
\_ Uh, as sky said: net use. It has nothing to do with whether
the drives are mapped.
\_ "net use \\server\dir /del". On the other hand, please tell
me how to disconnect anyone who's using shares on my computer.
Thanks.
\_ Right click on My Computer > Manage > System Tools >
Shared Folders > Sessions |
| 2005/11/12-14 [Computer/SW/Security, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:40559 Activity:low |
11/11 I'm phone shopping and looking for suggestions. I don't need anything
but good phone service and the ability to swap files easily with a
computer. I'm on Cingular. I just found out the only data swap package
for the Samsung phone I bought (SGH-X497) uses a serial port. No USB
options available which kind of blows. -- ulysses
\_ what kind of file you need to swap? Best addressbook /desktop
integration belongs to Microsoft :( If you want to swap photos,
ringtone, wall papers, etc, both Nokia and SonyEricsson has good
data suite for their phones.
\_ The addressbooki is all I care about. The rest is fluff AFAIAC. |
| 2005/11/2-3 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/OS/OsX] UID:40403 Activity:nil |
11/2 Buy a copy protected CD from Sony, get a rootkit installed for free!
http://tinyurl.com/auyjl |
| 11/26 |
| 2005/10/28-31 [Computer/SW/OS/FreeBSD, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:40319 Activity:low |
10/29 It's been over 10 years since I took 162. What is a good place
for a refresher course on the architecture and advantages vs.
disadvantages of using various file systems for BSD, Linux,
MacOS, NT/XP, and others? ok thx.
\_ And the legendary FAT.
\_ And HPFS, NTFS, and the legendary FAT.
\_ i think newer editions of the dinosauar book cover this
\_ It's funny that my 164 book (Sp '92) also has a dinosaur on the
cover.
\_ It's a dragon. Hence the compilers book (ASU) is known as
the dragon book. |
| 2005/10/19 [Computer/SW/Languages/Perl, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:40189 Activity:nil |
10/18 This is a serious thread, please don't delete it. I'm about to get
\_ Ah come on... Beastiality never goes out of style.
married and will be sharing my XP file server files (MP3 and videos)
on 802.11x. The server will be up and accessible 24x7 to run regular
stuff too like TV (all-in-wonder card), browser for house guests,
etc. I also have about 50G of porns on it and I need to hide them
from my wife since she doesn't like them. Since she's in tech
she knows how to mount, log in, and do other things. What's the best
way to hide my porn collection? Thanks.
\_ Burn to DVD and then delete.
\_ Agreed.
\_ Or buy a firewire drive, transfer everything to it, keep
it unplugged and in a closet for the duration of the
visit just to make sure that some random guest doesn't
accidentally replug it in.
\_ Yes, but you'll be stupid and leave it plugged in after
a really good session. Poof. Caught. Just admit to yourself
you have a porn collection, cull it down to just Good Porn,
and put it somewhere she won't see right away. Make a
backup because once she does find it, she'll delete it.
Get yelled at. Find another place to hide in directory
structure. Best place? Game and app directories.
\_ Can't you just make the folder not readable for other users?
\_ Yeah, win xp has per-user security stuff available like unix.
\_ What about 2k and NT? -- !OP
\_ i think it's tied to NTFS
\_ This is hilarious!
\_ I guess you could try just obfuscating it under some innocent
directory tree and rename all the files with a perl script or
something.
\_ nuke it all. enjoy your wife more.
\_ link:csua.org/u/drp (work-safe)
\_ PGPDisk. Confidential_work_docs.pgd. And make a backup to a
3.5" USB drive. -John
\_ pkzipc -pass foo ......
\_philcompress
\_ Did phil ever graduate, or is he still a perpetual undergrad
creeping closer to graduation one unit at a time? |
| 2005/10/11 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:40042 Activity:nil |
10/11 Two of the most annoying computer companies get together!
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/12875727.htm |
| 2005/10/9-10 [Computer/Networking, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:40027 Activity:very high |
10/9 Dear MOTD, I'm looking to give a bunch of windows users access to a
filesharing solution on a unix box. They're not terribly technical,
and have mainly browser access. Is there some sort of open source
web based toy running over SSL that mimicks what they would see on a
windows fileshare, with drag&drop/copy&paste? -John
\_ WebDAV on Apache might work for you. I think that recent
versions of Windows have native support.
\_ Do you have some objection to SAMBA?
\_ Sorry, should have specified--this is over the Internet. -John
\_ SAMBA works over the internet. Just install a VPN...
\_ any tips on VPNs? (anything free out there that is
good?) - !op
\_ Well, you can just buy VPN enabled routers like the
one from Linksys. This makes VPN very easy and it
offloads the service onto the router. Alternatively
you can just configure Linux/*BSD to run IPSec. If
you don't like kernel plumbing too much you can use
Free S/WAN to do IPSec. It's not too hard once you
get the hang of it. You of course need a static IP
to make this happen.
\_ M0n0wall (http://www.m0n0.ch/wall is great for this,
especially on Soekris or PCEngines WRAP. I can't
do this via VPN--has to be over a browser. -John |
| 2005/10/5-6 [Computer/Companies/Google, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:39987 Activity:nil |
10/5 Sun & Google partnership opinion piece:
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/fastforward/0,15704,1114200,00.html |
| 2005/10/3-5 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:39965 Activity:nil |
10/3 Can anyone recommend a self-extractor on Windows that:
1) Shows progress while it is unzipping
2) Can be built inside a build (not using IDE)
3) Allows you to run a command (EXE) packaged inside the .EXE *AND*
4) Allows you to pass in arguments to that EXE
Winzip self-extractor meets all these reqs except for #4. I don't
care if it is freeware or costs money.
\_ There are commercial installer products that should be able to
do what you want which seems to be to distribute an installable
compressed .exe file. If one of them doesn't do exactly what you
want, ask them how much for a custom mod since money doesn't
seem to be an issue for you.
\_ Why not use a batch file?
\_ Because my customers don't want to have to read a README and
download files and batch file and type shit in. They want to
double click an EXE. And if there's problems I'd like to be
able to parse command line arguments.
\_ What are the flags you want to support, and what do you want each
flag to do?
\_ Let's say you have pkg.exe, and when you run it, it unzips files
to a temp directory, then runs a file "setup.exe" inside.
Feature 4 means you want "setup.exe" being run with some flags
that are always the same?
\_ No winzip self extractor supports that. I want:
pkg.exe -flag to run: setup.exe -flag. So the arguments,
if any, are not known ahead of time but chosen by the
user.
\_ I'm gonna go out on a limb and say "this is dumb."
\_ Why do you want a self-extractor to do this? Just
write a setup program to do it. Let the
self-extractor simply extract.
\_ I'm gonna go out on a limb and say "this is dumb."
\_ This IS dumb and it breaks the UI rules for Windows.
Under Windows user interaction with a setup program
is done through the setup UI, i.e. installshield
or MSI's GUI scripts. So do it properly and have
the user interact with the setup UI, not through
some sort of nonstandard command like B.S. What
works for UNIX doesn't work for Windows.
\_ The question wasn't "is this a dumb thing to do".
The question was "does anything support this".
\_ what about nullsoft's nsis?
\_ Never mind everyone I've figured out a way of doing it. It's
stupid and usability will probably complain but it will work.
pkg.exe -flag to run: setup.exe -flag. |
| 2005/9/29-10/3 [Consumer/Audio, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:39924 Activity:nil |
9/29 Apple to Replace Faulty Nano Screen
http://csua.org/u/djz
(posted by the same guy who posted arstechnica link)
\_ But they say the scratchiness is not new -- same material as used
in previous iPods. Use an iPod Nano case, they say.
\_ Apple claims it was a manufacturing defect.
\_ Okay, Apple said:
(1) Screen crack is manufacturing defect in < 0.1% of
devices. If your screen cracks, let them know.
(1) Screen/LCD crack is manufacturing defect in < 0.1% of
devices (< 1 problem unit every 1,000 Nanos).
If your screen cracks, let them know, and they'll
probably replace your Nano.
probably replace your Nano. If you drop it and it
If your screen/LCD breaks, let them know, and they
might replace your Nano. If you drop it and it
breaks, maybe not. The guy who created the original
web site who had his LCD wig out handled his iPod
web site who had his LCD wig out handled his Nano
very gently, and this is what Apple is referring to
in it's < 0.1% defect rate.
for the < 0.1% defect rate.
(2) Screen scratch is user-error, since the coating/body
is the same as for previous iPods, so get an iPod
Nano case if you're worried about scratches.
No replacements for scratched Nanos, only cracked
screens.
http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/09/27/nanoscreen/index.php
\_ I am not siting with the buyers but I find it a
strange argument that it's an user error because
the same, weakness, if you will, existed in the
previous version of the product. It's like M$
saying Windows XP crashes are user errors because
Windows 2000 crached, too.
\_ I am not siding with the buyers but I find it a
strange argument that it's a user error because
the same weakness existed in the previous version
of the product. It's like M$ saying Windows XP
instabilities are user errors because Windows 98
and ME crashed too. |
| 2005/9/24-26 [Computer/SW/Languages/Web, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:39854 Activity:nil |
9/24 Any recommendations for extracting text from a WPS file?
Apparently it was made with MS Works. OpenOffice can't open it
\_ tr -d "\000-\010\016-\037\177-\377" < test.wps |
| 2005/9/16-17 [Computer/Networking, Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:39715 Activity:nil |
9/16 How "dangerous" is it to be connecting to the internet via an
"unsecured" network?
\_ depends how secure your computer is.
\- i think if you can turn your computer into an "edge" node
meaning it runs basically no inbound listeners and you
juse use ssh and a browser outbound, probably can be reaonably
secure except for mobile code. of course you can get mobile
code problem even if not connected to the net. you can checksum
your OS on top of that.
\_ if its windows box, you can expect it to be pwnz0red in minutes.
Been there, done that, reinstalled it...
\_ If it's a properly patched Winbox with a decent personal
firewall, no open bluetooth/wifi, and some basic stack
hardening/permissions set, I wouldn't worry. If you're taking
a laptop to blackhat or some other place full of k1dd13z
without backups, that's different. -John |
| 2005/9/12-14 [Computer/SW/Languages, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:39641 Activity:nil |
9/12 http://www.pagerealm.com/tc2k http://www.custom3dgraphics.com/flash/hiphurts.html \_ That's pretty dang funny. \_ It is, though I almost feel like I'm a victim of this just by sitting through this. --dbushong |
| 2005/9/8-10 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:39575 Activity:nil |
9/8 Is there a better Windows ghostscript front-end than GSview? What do
you use to view PostScript on Windows?
\_ Not really. The usual method is to convert to PDF using distiller
and view it using Acrobat Reader. |
| 2005/9/6-7 [Computer/SW/OS/Linux, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:39528 Activity:nil |
9/6 Has anyone worked with data archival software? Our microfilm scanner
still works but the printer has died (it's 30 years old). We're looking
at replacing microfilm with a digital system. I'm a luddite, so this
seems like a pretty bad idea to me, but I'm told to see what's out
there. So I guess I need a decent scanner and document feeder and
maybe some non-consumer software to create PDFs of what is scanned in.
Any pointers would be appreciated. On a side note, Google is not great
when you want to actually buy a new product because you're getting
targeted ads vs. information.
\_ it totally depends on your requirements. Does it need to be
accessible to the web? Will you submit your info to a large
digital repository so you can use their finding aids? How large
is the archive? Do you have a database already in existence that
can work with digital images?
\_ There have been a few threads on this on http://slashdot.org with a
couple of gems among the chaff. Might be worthwhile spending an
hour or so going through their archive. Also, I think that if you
have basic questions about Microfilm->digital archive transferral,
Kodak does a lot of work for large companies on this; you might
want to start looking there. My gf's dad used to do this for them,
if you want, I can ask him for some pointers. -John |
| 2005/9/6-8 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:39526 Activity:nil |
9/6 Ballmer goes nutzoid!
http://news.com.com/Court+docs+Ballmer+vowed+to+kill+Google/2100-1014_3-5846243.html
\_ Developers Developers Developers
\_ Why is this so weird? I would expect this from my CEO.
I want my CEO actively plotting to destroy the competition.
Should Ballmer have sent Schmidt a nice card? - danh
\_ Yes, but I can't say I've ever heard my CEO say "we're going
to FUCKING KILL <insert name of competitor>".
\_ When I worked at Documentum, the founder/CTO was fond of
saying things like, "If we do X, we're going to fuck Filenet.
That's my goal -- to fuck Filenet." It made our all-hands
company meetings pretty damned unique. -mice
\_ fyi, the guy who recounted the Ballmer argument:
http://mark-lucovsky.blogspot.com/2005/02/shipping-software.html
http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/p2p2001/view/e_spkr/1079
"Being a 16 year Microsoft veteran, a Distinguished Engineer, key
architect and code writer for windows, architect of the largest
source code control and build system ever attempted, I deeply
believed that Microsoft knows how to ship software. ... I am not
sure I believe anymore, that Microsoft 'knows how to ship
software'."
It's no wonder Ballmer had a shit-fit, with a talented old-guard
grunt leaving, and probably not the only one. |
| 2005/8/19-22 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:39189 Activity:kinda low |
8/19 I'm about to replace all original windows and glass doors at my 30-yr
\_ eh, I was about to say, run linux
old home with dual-pane ones. Any recommendation? Are prices at Home
Depot reasonable? What about <DEAD>www.customs-exteriors.com<DEAD> TIA.
\_ Stay away from Home Depot. Go to a window and door store. Also
consider laminated glass instead of dual-pane gas-filled, depending
on the application. My house is 76 years old and I wanted to keep
the original windows while also soundproofing and insulating. I
went with laminated glass to preserve the look. Your house is
1970s, so maybe you don't care so much. IMO, lots of replacement
windows look like shit. I'd go wood instead of vinyl, too.
\_ If you're going to paint the wood, why?
\_ Aesthetics. Also, what if you
later want to change the color?
Most high-end houses use wood or
aluminum-clad wood.
\_ My windows have metal frames in gray color and no paints.
They're not broken, but they don't look good and my wife thinks
it's too chilly in winter. How does laminated glass work? How
does it soundproof and insulate without two panes of glass
trapping a layer of air/gas? -- OP
\_ Two panes of glass with a layer of carbonate between.
They do not insulate as well as, say, argon but they are
better for sound. The look better because you cannot tell
they are really two panes. This is important when having,
say, divided lights.
\_ What in particular is Home Depot bad for? Thx. -- OP
\_ Get the Linux brand. Red Hat is good.
\_ If you're living in the bay area, vinyl should be decent enough. Get
the Milgard windows. Aluminium is better for colder environment.
\_ I live in north Fremont. -- OP
\_ I have Milgard windows that the previous owner installed and
I cannot wait to remove them. Ugly and also the double hungs
have this habit of coming untracked. I hate them.
\_ I second Milgard windows. My parents had all the windows in our
about 5 yrs ago w/ Milgard windows and they have worked great.
I would get the work done by a experienced installer, most of
problems I've heard about re new windows are due to inexperienced
installers goofing things up rather than manufacturing defects.
\_ I just recently remodeled my house and replaced all the windows with
Jeld-Wen windows (from Home Depot). These windows cost 50% less compared to
other brands. To make it look nice, I spent another $1k for the custom
stucco molding around the windows offered by my contractor. Overall, I like
the looks and efficiency of these windows. I got the low-e type windows.
Jeld-Wen windows (from Home Depot). These windows cost 50% less
compared to other brands. To make it look nice, I spent another
$1k for the custom stucco molding around the windows offered by
my contractor. Overall, I like the looks and efficiency of these
windows. I got the low-e type windows.
\_ I got Simonton double paned vinyl windows. I wanted wood, but they
would have cost 2-3X as much and I could not get my wife to agree
to the extra cost. I used to have single paned aluminum windows
which were cold and noisy. The vinyl is a huge improvement, but
looks kind of tacky. A couple of contractors recommended Simonton
over Milgarde.
over Milgarde. -ausman |
| 2005/8/2-4 [Computer/SW/Languages/C_Cplusplus, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:38948 Activity:nil |
8/2 XP question. The C function CreateThread() returns both a thread ID
and a thread handle. What's the difference between them? Thx.
\_ A thread handle lets you do stuff with the thread, like kill it
(TerminateThread) or get its exit code (GetExitCodeThread). A
thread id is just a number, and all you can do with it is call
OpenThread to get a thread handle. Thread ids and thread handles
are exactly analogous to filenames and file handles -- CreateThread
is like a function that creates a new file, and returns both an
open file handle and the name of the file. Usually all you care
about is the handle. --mconst
\_ Very helpful! Thanks! |
| 2005/7/29-31 [Industry/Jobs, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:38871 Activity:nil |
7/29 Anyone have any experience with (or other comments on) buying
from http://PCDirect.com? There doesn't seem to be much negative about them
posted online, and yet their prices (I'm looking at complete systems,
no OS) are noticeably lower than what I've seen elsewhere. I'm
naturally wondering where the catch is.
\- boy i thought you were talking about "professional cutlery
direct" whom i would have given a solid endorsement. |
| 2005/7/28-29 [Recreation/Computer/Games, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:38865 Activity:nil |
7/28 So remember the guy on motd the other day that claimed that
Microsoft's new anti-piracy measure would kill piracy once and for
all? Hacked within 24 hours:
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/07/28/microsoft_genuine_ad.html
Now come back so that we can mock you.
\_ I wonder how long before they patch the website up. Anyway,
MS has the ability to do some real anti-piracy crap if they
really wanted to, like they kind of do on XBOX live. However,
I'm pretty sure someone out there will just start an alternate
semi-legal "windows update" site that bypasses all this crap
(like there are alternatives to XBOX live nowadays that doesn't
do all that hardware and bios CRC checking).
\_ I agree that this is a hack you need to do everytime you go to the
Windows Update site (it's not as convenient as having a keygen'd
product ID that just works), and it's likely it's not too hard for
MS to fix by updating their HTML scripts. |
| 2005/7/27 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:38837 Activity:moderate |
7/26 I'm suprised no one has posted this yet: http://tinyurl.com/dwe25 I enjoyed the quote "The more you tighten your grip, Bill, the more systems will slip through your fingers." But the subject itself doesn't bode well. Microsoft is beggining a drastic rollout of anti-piracy features that will make pirating windows and or software in general near impossible. -mrauser \_ The idea is after yesterday, even keygen'd Windows XP will no longer be able to get non-security-related downloads from Windows Update. Conceivably this could be extended to all downloads. \_ If I had a nickel for every time I heard about an impregnable anti-piracy system... \_ Is that "near impossible" thing your own opinion? Cuz it's just wrong. Very wrong. \_ I guess "more inconvenient" is the right phrase. E.g., copying music is more inconvenient these days with the lawsuits directed to individuals and companies. Unless the evil pirates make it less inconvenient again. \_ They always do. |
| 2005/7/14-15 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:38615 Activity:kinda low |
7/14 Does anyone know of a solution allowing s/key for Windows logons?
\_ You mean other than this? http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/skey
\_ Logons _to_ Windows boxes. Interested in whether there are
any similar OTP solutions not requiring one-time pads, exact
time or communication between the target host and the one
generating the response to auth challenge. -John
\_ You should have specified that. I've never heard of such an
animal.
\_ Sorry--thought "Windows logons" was pretty clear. -John |
| 2005/7/1-4 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Unix] UID:38392 Activity:nil |
07/01 Hi, is there free software for windows that will create a network
drive that uses sftp to connect to the network? Windows only support
ftp as a network drive. And I can't use "web folders" because my
unix accounts online doesn't support them. thanks.
\_ Does it have to be a network drive, or will you settle for an
application that talks sftp? If it's the latter, take a look at
FileZilla. -dans
\_ You're an idiot.
\_ You're an idiot. |
| 2005/6/13-15 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:38111 Activity:nil |
6/13 What is the cheapest way to get 3 or 4 arguably legal
copies of winXP, preferable with SP2 ? Also, how much
do extra terminal licenses cost? tnx.
\_ OEM licenses are cheaper but you can't move them to a different
machine once you activate it. (OEM licenses are what you get when
you buy a new Dell, etc.)
Standard licenses (non-OEM) are more expensive but you can move them
to different computers.
There's also subscription-based licensing, but I don't think those
pay off until you reach x number of computers (not sure what x is).
See prices on http://newegg.com.
\_ How about subscribing to MSDN and use the XP CD included?
\_ http://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/faq/default.aspx
\_ You can also get an Academic Upgrade version from http://newegg.com for
$85. Technically you're using it for sk00l, but all you need
is a Win2K or perhaps Win98/WinME CD-ROM to insert during the
install process. At the end you get a bona-fide (Academic) CD key
registered in the MS database. I don't recommend that if you're
buying for a real business.
\_ talk to someone that works at microsoft. win xp pro is $30
at the company store.
\_ Didn't an MS employee end up drinking anti-freeze for getting
caught doing too much of that?
\_ decades ago, my friend who work in M$ told me that they
have quota of one software title per employee per year, 90%
off market price. Having said that, no one buys it
because they end up burn them from the archive anyway.
\_ my friend worked there 3-4 years ago and could buy stuff
with a limit of maybe $150 or $200 on how much he could
spend per year. After he left he was part of a 'microsoft
alumni' program that let him do basically the same thing
even though he wasn't working there anymore. I got two
copies of xp home through him for $10 each. I would have
bought more but he blew the rest of his "allowance" on
xbox games. |
| 2005/6/13-15 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:38102 Activity:nil |
6/13 I have a lame windows problem. On one of my PCs running XP Pro it's
often the case where clicking on the taskbar or start menu will just
hang there for several (2-30) seconds without responding. In this
time all other apps work fine, and the CPU usage is 1-2%. Eventually
whatever it was waiting for happens and it belatedly responds to my
click(s). Do you know what could be causing this? FWIW this is a
laptop using windows domains.
\_ Is it waiting for your hard disk to spin up again after it was
powered down after certain idle minutes? Check your settings in
Power Options Propertis.
\_ It is not hard-disk spindown. Restarting makes the 'Closing
network connections' take a looong time. Once restarted it's
fine, but gets slower.
\_ Could be a bad network driver...quick fix is to try
unchecking the "automatically search for network folders
and printers" from your folder options/view tab.
\_ Check taskmgr.exe to make sure explorer.exe isn't going nuts. It
could be that it's looking for a network resource it can't find.
Try turning off all Windows file & print/smb/whatever services
in your network config. Try opening 'network neighborhood' and see
if that takes as long too. -John
\_ Task manager shows it using almost no CPU, and it's 'Running'.
\_ Run a sniffer (ethereal), on loopback, on local interface,
and on a hub next to the box. Check event log. It really
sounds like it's looking for a share or printer or having
a domain-related problem. |
| 2005/6/7-9 [Consumer/Audio, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:38022 Activity:nil |
6/7 Any suggestions for saving a WM/Real audio stream that happens at the
same time every day (on windows xp)?
\_ 1. how do you save WM/Real audio stream at first place?
2. I don't think time of the day has anything to do with solution.
you need to figure out a pattern of changing streaming
URI according to date.
I do this everyday using a tool called "hidownload." I have to
manually cut n paste URI and feed to hidownload on daily basis.
I occationally need Firefox's "View Rendered Source" plugin to
figure out URI. Let me know you got better way. -kngharv
\_ The URI doesn't change. They were offering mp3 downloads, but
they've been heavily edited in the last week, so I was planning on
recording the live stream (which isn't edited). I've used CDex in
the past to simply record, but it picks up all sound on the computer
(including beeps, etc.)--not just the stream. I'll look at
hidownload. |
| 2005/6/1-3 [Computer/SW/Languages, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37928 Activity:nil |
6/1 In order to improve the performance of your machine, please add the
following in your .cshrc file in all of your accounts:
ping -s http://www.microsoft.com 50000 > /dev/null &
\_ I would, but after your last speed tip my computer can't see any of
my files, so I think it should slow down and maybe it will be able
to see them.
\_ What is port 50000?
\_ http://csua.com/?entry=32148 |
| 2005/6/1-5 [Academia/GradSchool, Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/OS/OsX] UID:37924 Activity:nil |
6/1 Update on notetaking software. After trying all the different
freeware and shareware programs, I settled on Microsoft OneNote 2003.
It's a big program like most MS products. But it has the right
user interface and integration with the rest of the MS Office apps
that we all use.
\_ I use OneNote as well. It comes with my TabletPC which is really
awesome. I use it to take notes the exact same way I use regular
paper. The character recognition is pretty good as well. And if
I want to input something really fast I can always ditch my pen
and use the keyboard. OneNote works well with a tablet pen.
\_ what kind of tablet pc do you use?
\_ Notebook and Notetaker are both popular(?) Mac apps.
\_ By the way did you ever fix your notebook networking problem, where
after you unplug your notebook it becomes really slow? What was
the root-cause and how did you fix it? |
| 2005/5/27-31 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37865 Activity:nil |
5/27 I bought a generic Atheros 802.11 a/b/g mini pci on eBay. After
installing it, Windows XP recognized it as an Atheros card and
it worked for a while. However, after I rebooted the machine,
XP kept recognizing it as a generic Ethernet Controller, and
would not install the right drivers. What's wrong?
\_ I've seen something like this with my USB wifi adapter, and I had
to reboot to have XP recognize it properly again.
Did you download the latest Atheros drivers? -rollee
\_ I seem to recall that Atheros cards have some weird feature where
the firmware or parts of it are stored off the card in the driver,
and loaded by the OS at some point. I have had some weird problems
with mine; if you tell me the exact model type I can look into
it. -John |
| 2005/5/24-26 [Computer/SW/Security, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37826 Activity:low |
5/23 On XP, can I use encryption on the swap file?
\_ Doesn't answer the question, but provides workaround
http://csua.org/u/c6c (microsoft.com)
http://csua.org/u/c6c
http://tinyurl.com/b9oxc
\_ Thanks. Too bad it doesn't help when it crashes. I'll have to
remember to boot it up again and then do a clean shutdown. |
| 2005/5/23-26 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:37803 Activity:nil |
5/23 Does WinXP or Win2000 have a built-in "take a screenshot" function?
\_ PrtScn copies whole screen to clipboard as BMP.
Alt-PrtScn copies currently focused window.
Interestingly it doesn't work with DVDs.
\_ Probably your DVDs are being played using hardware overlay and
that is bypassing Window's regular window-drawing system. Try
to go into your DVD software and disable hardware overlay (though
you'll take a perfomance hit).
\_ Not just DVDs. Any video you play that uses hardware
acceleration and a video overlay.
\_ Thanks. |
| 2005/5/23-25 [Computer/SW/Database, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37802 Activity:low |
5/23 There used to be a company called Arts(sp?) Digita or something like
that. Anyone knows what happened to it? Thx.
\_ Ars Digita
\_ http://www.assureconsulting.com/articles/arsdigita.shtml
\_ I like this part: "We bought a Ferrari to give away to any
employee who recruited 10 friends. In reality the car only cost
$2,000 per month, the person who won it only got to drive it for
as long as he or she was employed, and the cost of a Ferrari is
much lower than 10 headhunter commissions."
\_ commissions were what, $25k each back then? still
probably around that number today. 10*25=250k
\_ http://csua.com/?entry=23835
\_ i used to work there ... they got bought by red hat. pretty much
everyone got laid off at some pt or another except for i think
1 guy who went to red hat w/ the technology purchase (also a
berkeley grad). many of the berkeley people now work at another
berkeley consulting company that uses some of the open source
software. I dont know what happened to the boston employess. |
| 2005/5/19-21 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37762 Activity:nil |
5/19 Is my 1394 Net Adapter supposed to always be in state: "Connected"?
WinXP Pro Toshiba M100 laptop, in Control Panel->Network Connections,
it says i have a 1394 Net Adapter connection that always says
it is "Connected". Never noticed it before. Never had anything
plugged into the 1394 firewire port. Selecting Right-click and
"Status" shows time connected and 400Mbps but no other fields filled.
\_ WOW, still no answer or ideas? I must have a question that stumps
the MOTD and Google. This must be an unanswerable one? Naw, SOMEONE
must have The One True Answer. |
| 2005/5/18-19 [Computer/HW/CPU, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37749 Activity:kinda low |
5/18 Hyper-threading considered harmful:
http://www.daemonology.net/hyperthreading-considered-harmful
\- You mean it isn't fun and profitable?
\_ I don't know about security problems, but lots of testing has
led us to believe that in most instances it does not help
performance. The number of cases it improves performance is
small compared to the number where it degrades performance -
especially on a multiuser machine. I always turn it off.
\_ In my experience it helps responsiveness, at least in Windows.
Windows 2K/XP threading just seems to work better when there are
more than one processor.
\_ I agree with pp. Hyperthreading helps GUI responsiveness (Alt-
Tabs, etc.), but does not decrease total execution time of a
given process. This is also the general wisdom.
\_ Not only does not decrease, but can increase time spent
in CPU.
\_ Well it *can* decrease the total time of two processes,
if they have certain properties.
\_ For most apps these days responsivenss under load is
a lot more important that some minor gain in raw speed.
I'd gladly sacrafice 1% speed (and we are really talking
less than that) for a noticable gain in UI responsiveness
when my machine is pegging.
\_ We are not talking about less than 1% in speed and
some of us actually do heavy work on our computers.
Depending on what you are doing, the UI response
might actually be *slower* because the OS thinks it
has 2 CPUs when it only has 1 (worse scenario is
when it thinks it has 4 and only has 2 and, I
imagine, gets worse the more CPUs you have). I suggest
always turning off hyperthreading.
\_ Is the hyperthreading thing the same as bundling two CPUs together?
I have a dual P3 machine, and it helps when my compiler compiles
multiple modules in two parallel processes.
\_ No. |
| 2005/5/18-19 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37746 Activity:nil |
5/18 For the person who was asking about a url/note organizer for
windows. SdiDesk might work for you:
http://www.nooranch.com/sdidesk/wiki/wiki.cgi/AboutSdiDesk |
| 2005/5/17-18 [Computer/SW/Security, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37725 Activity:low |
5/17 http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix "A system administrator, angered by his diminished role in a thriving defense manufacturing firm whose computer network he alone had developed and managed, centralized the software that supported the company's manufacturing processes on a single server, and then intimidated a coworker into giving him the only backup tapes for that software. Following the system administrator's termination for inappropriate and abusive treatment of his coworkers, a logic bomb previously planted by the insider detonated, deleting the only remaining copy of the critical software from the company's server. The company estimated the cost of damage in excess of $10 million, which led to the layoff of some 80 employees." \_ Whose fault was this? Now consider: whose responsibility is it (not for failing to look over his shoulder, but for allowing this much "power" to concentrate in one set of hands)? -John \- fault is not zero sum. poor decision making on part of the company doesn't remove his culpability. legally it may be up in the air to what extent can say a shareholder hold the negligent management responsible vs the malicious employee but ethically, the failure is on the "evil employee". \_ Well, the company holds the evil employee liable in its turn, but it's kind of a case of where the buck stops. That said, dingdingding. -John |
| 2005/5/16-17 [Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37707 Activity:moderate |
5/16 I'm looking for software (free or shareware) on windows that can help
me manage information found on the web. Usually I find some useful
info and if I forget to bookmark it or write down the address
somewhere else, it'll take me hours to find it again one month later.
Also bookmarking is not really scalable. I can't write my own notes
etc. There has got to be an easier way to classify and take notes and
store links (or save HTML pages locally) in an indexable and
searchable manner. Thanks.
\_ Well, firstly I would agree that bookmarks could use some
improvement. But I think you can use normal Firefox bookmarks to
sort of do this. You can open the bookmark manager which is
searchable, and lets you attach a longish description to any item.
What it really needs is a one-button "bookmark this" which includes
the description field. Basically a UI issue. Actually, I just
tried this and noticed the search function doesn't look at
description text. What a POS.
\_ just create subfolders in your bookmarks
\_ What we need is kchang's auto classification motd tool for
firefox!! We just bookmark a page and based on content, it
gets classified under a particular category! You should be
able to get different 'views' of your bookmarks based on
category, date, etc!
\_ Hmmmm, interesting, I will have to spend some time doing more
feasibility study on this and afterwards consider this feature...
\_ I use a plain text file for this.
\_ Not sure about Windows, but at least on OS X some of my
friends use a product called Sticky Brain. I use text
file and a bunch of nested directories. |
| 2005/5/15-17 [Computer/SW/Graphics, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37697 Activity:moderate |
5/15 Has anyone read Foucault's Pendulum? If so, is it a good book
to pick up? I'm split over whether to read it or not, based
on reviews on amazon (which either love it or hate it).
\_ This is a notoriously "difficult" book, so take reader reviews
for what they're worth. Some people that I know who have read
it say that it's difficult for the sake of being difficult, and
others like it for the "depth." I couldn't finish it because
all the years of video games and the internets have fried my
attention span.
\_ I read it twice: once to myself (I tend to skim) and once to my wife,
out loud. (You have to read every word when you do that, though
curiously you can zone out while doing it, intone every word
perfectly, do different voices, and not remember the content of the
last few pages.) At any rate, when I skimmed it I enjoyed it. When
I read the whole thing I realized I was definitely "not tall enough"
to be reading this book. If National Treasure is the working man's
version of the Treasure w/ Clues Hidden Throughout History genre,
this is the one for lit. majors. YMMV, but I probably understood
this is the one for lit. majors. YMMV, but I probably under stood
95% of the vocabulary and 35% of the literary and historical
references. (I was not a lit. major) Oh, and if you read this first
then read DaVinci Code you'll have definite dejM-a vM-y. --dbushong
then read DaVinci Code you'll have definite dejá vù. --dbushong
\- I thought Name of the Rose was quite a good story. I didnt
think FP was a great story. I think there were individual
paragraphs which were well written. I think they would have
been worth reading for an aspiring writer who wanted to see
some samples of nice descriptions, but again from a plot/
characters/entertainment perspective, didnt do well "in my
book" ... I finished the book in part because I was on
expedition and it was one of the only books I had with me.
I like history but I wasnt into all the stuff about
I like history but I wasnt that into all the stuff about
publishing. I dont understand why people consider it "hard".
I think the Iliad is hard. There might be details one misses
\_ No, Ulysses is hard :). -- ilyas
\- I have read Ulysses once and the Iliad
6 times. I think the Iliad is more
rewarding. IMHO, U is much more for
people interested in literature while
I has more to say about "life". U (and
even more FW) in some ways are a little
bit of a game or deliberate, conscious
challenge while I is a stright up profound
work. As they say, YMMV. Parenthetically,
I think the Odyssey is very enjoyable but
much more "partial credit" friendly than I.
BTW, Professor Bishop is giving a talk about
FW on 5/26 at UCB.
in FP, but it's pretty amenable to "partial credit" unlike
a work with high "barriers to entry". If you have not read
'Rose, read that. If you want other historical fiction
recommendations, state your parameters. --psb
\- BTW, one of the best historical fiction series I have
read is Les Rois Maudits [The Accursed Kings] series
begining with Le Roi de Fer [The Iron King] by Maurice
Druon. It is difficult to find a (english) copy to own,
although libraries ought to have them. It is about
although libraries ought to have it. It is about
Philip IV le Bel of France and his progeny. --psb
then read DaVinci Code you'll have definite dejá vù. --dbushong
Philip IV, Le Bel, of France and his progengy. --psb
Philip IV, Le Bel, of France and his progeny. --psb
\_ Name of the Rose was utter pap. Long-winded rants, unresolved
plot threads and unsatisfactory endings don't make good books.
Highly overrated (though far less irritating than the Da Vinci
Code).
\_ Da Vinci Code was Foucault's Pendulum light. FP is better
written, more engaging, and imparts much more information
than Dan Brown's rehashing of "Angels and Demons" and "Holy
Blood, Holy Grail." The reading level for FP is high, though
straightforward; the literary and historical references are
sometimes obscure. If you enjoy this, you may also enjoy the
works of John Crowley, and you may even enjoy the Illuminatus!
trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson. As for The Name of the Rose,
it was brilliant, but it is so well-written in the style of
the period that the prose quickly becomes unwieldy to the
modern reader. --erikred
\_ I liked it. I did not understand all the historical references
though I did have some knowledge of the history of secret
societies during the Crusades, from my past experience as
a DeMolay (Masonic youth organization). I liked the fact
that parts of the puzzle were "missing" for me, because
they were missing for the main characters as well and
it kind of put me in their mind state. If you can stand
being baffled half the time, it is a great read. -ausman
\- FYI, Les Rois Maudits more or less opens with the scene of
Demolay et al roasting over an open fire on the Ile de la Cite.
\_ Jacques DeMolay, you are avenged!
\_ It has great references and a fantastic premise but the writing
style and conclusion left me a bit unimpressed. -John
\_ Like Partha and the rest here, I read "difficult" books by choice.
(With my name, how could I not?) I found FP to be like listening to
the rant of a well-educated schizophrenic vagrant. It is
occasionally brilliant but mostly just pleased with its own level
of detailed erudition. The story beneath all the noise was hardly
compelling, either. The Name of the Rose, on the other hand, I
recommend. -- ulysses
\_ I read it 10 years ago, so it's a little fuzzy, but I remember
enjoying the book, though I wouldn't say it's a must read. The
writing style and story are actually pretty straightforward, so,
in that sense, it isn't particularly difficult, but I did find
it really boring at points. The highlight of the book is a 200-300
page section in the middle in which the development of the
Knight's Templar, Rosicrucians, etc. is historically explained.
I thought that part was awesome. -ciyer |
| 2005/5/12-13 [Computer/Rants, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37659 Activity:nil |
5/13 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,155745,00.html I don't like Microsoft but at least they're backing Gay Rights. Go Microsoft, go diversity, go tolerance, and go gay pride! \_ Go CEO Bill Gays! \_ Bill Gays! Bill Gays! Bill Gays! ...... |
| 2005/5/5-6 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37541 Activity:nil |
5/5 Anyone has recommendation on parental control software for
Windows? Thanks. |
| 2005/5/5-6 [Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37537 Activity:moderate |
5/5 I have only owned Macs until getting a cheap pc recently, so I don't
even know what registry is. What book/ resource do you recommend
that will help me become a competent windoze user, starting with
securing it from virus/attacks? tia
\_ get a router for internet access if you havn't done so already,
PC magazine recently had an article on how to secure your PC. At
the hardware level you need a firewall/router, then at the software
level you need anti-virus software, spyware scanner, and firewall.
and finally you should also keep your windows up to date with
windows update.
\_ Don't run programs you don't trust. Macs are not intrinsicly safer
in this respect but far fewer malwares exist for Macs. Also, learn
to recognize what can include executable code. A non-exhaustive
list includes EXE, BAT, COM, SCR, MSI, PIF...
\_ And beware of e-mail attachments with names like
"foobar.jpg.exe".
\_ Windows' default is 'Hide extensions of known file types',
which is really quite dangerous. You can show all file
extensions at Explorer->Tools->Folder Options->View->Advanced
\_ Ah, I always wonder who would fall for "foobar.jpg.exe",
now I know. I always enable extension display, but just
because I like it, not because of security.
\_ Create a normal user account for yourself that's not in the
Administrators or the Power Users group. Use the
Administrator account only to install new software and to
change settings.
\_ I wonder how often people actually do this... On unix
this is a given, but on windows I don't know anyone that
actually do this.
\_ Everyone who cares about security and who understands
the implications of being logged in as admin. all the time
(you don't have to be an uber-geek to see it)
\_ Are you saying I don't care about security and ...? I
always auto-login as Administrator, but then, none of my
Windows boxes can communicate with the outside world. I
do all my "internet" stuff on FreeBSD boxes and iBook.
\_ I started doing this a couple months ago. But now when I log
in as non-admin, I can't see in the Start menu some of the
programs that I installed as admin. So I still have to log in
as admin to run those programs.
\_ I don't. Never had a problem. If I had something nasty on my
PC it could screw me anyway. Just backup your shit. I guess
it might prevent some worm stuff from installing itself if
you're worried about that. So, I guess if you're new to the OS
it might be a prudent move. Too much hassle for me though.
\_ Use Firefox instead of IE as much as possible. That's the #1 thing
that I did when I was a windoze user (I switched to Mac last year)
\_ this is bullshit. i like firefox but yeah. not like firefox is
without bugs.
\_ Why did you get a Windows PC? |
| 2005/5/5 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37535 Activity:nil |
5/5 Is it just because the Windows users are quieter or embarrassed to be
Windows users, or are they really a minority/plurality on the motd?
\_ Actually, I've noticed less ranting about Windoze. |
| 2005/5/4-5 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37513 Activity:low |
5/4 Is there any way to make something like a symbolic or hard link in
Windows (NTFS)? Shortcuts don't count because they can't be followed
as part of a path.
\_ You can make symbolic links to directories (junction points) and
hard links to files. Sysinternals has a junction tool, and
you can search Google for "NTFS hardlink" for hardlink tools.
(Be forewarned: junction points on Windows are dangerous.
Explorer doesn't distinguish them from normal directories, so
deleting a junction point deletes all the /contents/. grumble.)
\_ Trying to make Windows act like UNIX is a bad idea.
\_ Install cygwin, then you can ln -s all you want |
| 2005/5/3-5 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/OS/FreeBSD] UID:37508 Activity:nil |
5/3 Windows can pull a file out of its butt to Hibernate
to, why can't FreeBSD/Linux? - danh
\_ They can, but you have to leave the hibernate partition, and
you might need to specify it in the kernel if the default
kernel you're using doesn't have the right APM options. -tom
\_ so why is windows so cool?
\_ part of the problem is reinitializing all of the components
after waking up. It's more true when the device driver had
to be reverse-engineered. There was one line of audio
chipset in a laptop that needed a special driver from the
manufacturer to behave properly after hibernation. Even
the basic Windows (2k) driver couldn't get it to work
after hibernation w/o the proprietary driver. |
| 2005/4/21-22 [Computer/HW/Drives, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37304 Activity:nil |
4/21 Is it possible to boot from an external Firewire or USB drive? I'd
like to install Windows XP on such a drive and occasionally boot
my SCSI Linux box into Windows from it.
\_ depends on your hardware. -tom
\_ What is the requirement in the hardware?
\_ If your BIOS allows it, then yes. If not, then no.
\_ Do we have to go through this every week?
\_ "After many failed attempts and investigation, I believe Windows XP
does not support booting off of a USB drive no matter how much
wishful thinking" [Dec 15 2004]
http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/entry/425/how-to_boot_windows
Lots of no, sorry, nope posts: [Apr 5 2005]
http://csua.org/u/bsy |
| 2005/4/21-22 [Computer/SW/Security, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37302 Activity:nil |
4/21 Prank Paper accepted for publication:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/EDUCATION/04/21/academic.hoax.ap/index.html
\_ Wow, that only took CNN about 2 weeks to report.
\_ Dude that's already been reported on motd:
http://csua.com/?entry=37223
\_ it's already been reported twice on the motd.
\_ Conferences are just social gatherings. |
| 2005/4/9-10 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Apps] UID:37127 Activity:nil |
4/8 Just out of curiousity, has anyone tried eBooks (Adobe reader,
Microsoft reader)? What is it like? eBooks are a lot cheaper
than regular books and they don't take up any space and allow you
to do quick searches. However, I'm wondering if they're
transferable between computers. Any comment on this? -ok thx
\_ They're transferable between computers if you remove the DRM.
Remember Dmitry Skylarov? |
| 2005/3/31-4/3 [Computer/SW/Languages/C_Cplusplus, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:37010 Activity:nil |
3/31 From the "shit I could have told you myself" department:
"95% of IT Projects Not Delivered On Time"
http://it.slashdot.org/it/05/03/31/1527257.shtml?tid=218
\- what %age of IT projects are not worth doing? i sure see
a lot of churn which involves people trying to justify
their jobs. if an organization grows 5% over 10yrs but
computers become 10x more powerful and 1/5th the size,
some stuff is upgraded too often needlessly.
\_ Sure, but not all upgrades are needless due to continual
increases in number crunching and data storage demand, and a lot
of systems which really ought to be upgraded, aren't. I think
most of the waste comes from inefficient process-heavy
organizations. -John |
| 2005/3/30-31 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36987 Activity:nil |
3/30 My new Thinkpad (running WinXP) has a c:\i386 directory. It looks
like it's full of windows installation files and DLLs. Is it safe to
delete this directory? Other WinXP machines don't have this directory.
\_ No, it is not safe to delete this directory. Get two cdroms,
high quality ones, and backup that directory. Make sure the CDs
are readable, then delete. The directory is essentially the WinXP
setup files. Without it your computer will choke everytime it
tries to install something new or a file gets corrupted in the
WinXP base system directory. |
| 2005/3/30-31 [Computer/SW/Security, Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Unix] UID:36959 Activity:nil |
3/30 In Windows XP, when I share [export] a folder with read/write/execute
permissions for ALL, it still asks for username/password. How do I
configure it so that it never asks for user/password?
\_ You need to enable the Guest account. |
| 2005/3/24-25 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36854 Activity:nil |
3/24 Can WinXP run different threads on different processors on a
multiprocessor machine? Or must they be different processes?
\_ There wouldn't be much point to multithreading otherwise, would
there? Yes, multithreaded apps run better on SMP systems.
\_ Can WinXP run different threads of a multi-threaded process on
multiple CPUs? Probably.
\_ yes.
\_ Confirmed now via direct testing on a dual
Xeon. -op
Can WinXP run multiple single-threaded processes on multiple CPUs?
Yes.
\_ What about on NT and Win2K?
\_ The answers should be the same on NT and Win2K. If the
question is, does any one do it better? then you got me. |
| 2005/3/23-24 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36819 Activity:nil |
3/22 Say you buy a brand new laptop that says it comes with Windows XP,
Word, Excel, etc. I know that they come preinstalled, but let's say
you want to reformat your drive and reinstall. Are ALL the softwares
included in the package (CDs) so that you can reinstall them?
\_ Usually they are, but sometimes they are packaged in annoying way,
i.e. the laptops comes with a rescue CD that let's you restore it
to the (lame) factory defaults it shipped with (which does include
all that software, but is also the default Toshiba or Dell or
whatever configuration) -dans
\_ You are buying OEM copies of the software (WinXP, Office), which
amounts to hundreds of dollars. The OEM license allows you to
re-install the software on that computer. If you don't have CDs,
you can request them from the manufacturer of your notebook.
No migrating the license to another computer, though -- that's not
covered by the OEM license. |
| 2005/3/21-22 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36784 Activity:kinda low Edit_by:auto |
3/20 Poll for people who have only 1 HD (laptop for example). How did YOU
partition your HD and why? I'm thinking of putting all the games and
media data in one partition and leave the OS and VMWare files in
another partition. The rationale is that when I play games or do media
stuff I don't work, and when I work (on VMWare) I don't play games and
play media files. However, this has the disadvantage of parition
fragmentation (which could be fixed via Partition Magic I suppose).
So I'll ask again, how did YOU partition your HD and why?
\_ Everything in one big partition. Works for me.
\_ When you later want to install another OS to dual-boot, you're
hosed.
\_ But if you mis-estimated what partition sizes you need, you're
still hosed.
\_ True.
\_ ... or run VMware like the OP.
\_ Oops. But VMware costs extra.
\_ I also use 1 big partition (default OS X install). If I need
to run another OS I just fire up VPC.
\_ This is my partition scheme for my main machine for
performance and ease of re-install if windows fucks up for any
reason. Readjust size based on your HD size.
C: <system>, 10-20gb (windows OS only)
<scratch>, mapped to c:\temp, c:\windows\temp, 20gb temp partition
D: <application>, I install everything to this partition (40+gb?)
<data>, mapped to c:\Home (80+ gb?)
This way, C: stays relatively clean and the OS itself will
not get squeezed and fragmented by all the crap that
normally goes on C:. Performance in Windows does not
degrade much as if everything is installed on C:. Having a
separate partition for Temp also helps in keeping C: clean
for fast windows performance. If you have 2 HD, put temp on
the 2nd HD.
When windows does fuck up, I simply format C: and
re-install. My data does not get affected, I just remaps my
directory after install. I install all applications to
d:\program files.
This partition scheme has served me well. You'll be amazed
how fast your machine is when you install a fresh copy of
windows. One last tip, do NOT install XP and then upgrade
to SP2, integrate SP2 onto your XP install CD. This way,
after you install XP, your system is already sp2 and this
uses less HD space than install then apply SP2. google for
how to do this.
\_ http://www.maximumpc.com/how_to/reprint_2005-01-05.html
Slipstream install for service pack, really optimizes!!!
\_ When you format and re-install Windows on C:, don't you lose all
the Registry settings? I thought many Windows apps rely on
Registry settings to work properly.
\_ Yes, that's the point of a fresh install. You do need to
re-install most apps. It's not as bad as it seems and
will fix most if not all application anomilies that typically
happens after going through upgrades and install-uninstall
cycles.
\_ hm, interesting. I'm not an XP expert so maybe you can
enlighten me. After you partition into C and D, how do you
further partition and map C into <system>, <scratch> and
likewise for D into <app> and <data>?
\_ Administrative Tools->Computer Management, under disk
management, you can map a drive to a directory. So in my
above example, you have 4 partitions.
1: 10gb c: operating system only
2: 40+gb d: application
3: 10gb nameless partition, maps to c:\temp, c:\windows\temp
4: 40+gb nameless partition, maps to c:\home
again you determine what size each partition goes. Minimum for
OS is probably 5gb, for Temp can be as small as 1gb. I use 10gb
so I can fit a DVD image on it. 20gb if you have dual layer.
\_ I currently have C: drive 10 GB containing only Windows and
essential applications (Office) and D: drive with 50 GB for
Documents and Settings\usernames, temp files, and everything else.
The idea was that C: could always be defragmented easily.
When I re-install, I don't want to fuck with things too much and
I'll just put it all on C: and live with the long defrags.
I am using (pay) Executive Software Diskeeper, which is much faster
than the Windows defragger.
I use 0 GB of swap. This is my notebook. If I want to run Linux,
I'll do so on a spare disk on my desktop, or swap in another hard
drive on my notebook. I don't need the hassle of dual-boot, and
foom, I accidentally rendered my Windows partition unbootable. |
| 2005/3/16-19 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36727 Activity:nil |
3/16 I have a disc with 2 primary partitions, 1st partition
is NTFS and contains win2k, 2nd partition is FAT32 and contains
win98. how do i dual boot between the two? what bootloader
would work? to use the native win2k bootloader and have
it work with win98 in the 2nd partition, partition
number 1 needs to be in FAT32. - danh
\_ Win2k supports dual booting in the default install... I think if you
search in My Computer there's an option for it, but I don't have a
Windows machine handy to test this.
\_ danh above said "1st partition is NTFS ...... to use the native
win2k bootloader partition number 1 needs to be in FAT32."
-- !danh
\_ If the native bootloader won't do it, try partition magic or some
other partition moving program. PM also has a bootloader program
in the package. It's been a while but I think some combination of
PM tools can do what you want. |
| 2005/3/14-15 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36677 Activity:moderate |
3/14 My girlfriend has one of those "USB flash drive" "stick like things"
with 128MB ... and it has suddenly become "write" protected, and
nothing can be "written" to it. Looking at "properties" doesn't
seem to offer any "check boxes" that I thought could have caused
the "problem". Anyone "seen" a "problem" like this before?
\_ Most of these things have a physical write-protect switch.
\_ Not on this one.
\_ Does it use a special driver with write-protect ability?
Did your OS mount it read-only?
Do you have write permission?
\_ I borrowed it one day and used it on my home computer
which is win2k ntfs while her laptop is winxp fat.
seems that it has a problem after that. guess I'll
bring it back to my home computer to see if it will
work from there, even don't I don't see why that
would cause a problem in the first place.
\_ Did you properly eject it from the win2k machine? If
not, you probably corrupted the filesystem.
\_ But I can't even format it now.
\_ I've had some problem with a CF card that 'lost' all the pictures,
nearly gave me an heart attack. I got the files back via
"chkdsk /f drive:" Again use with caution.
\_ hey! what's with all the double quotes?! are you trying to be
funny? - op
\_ yes. -quoter
\_ you're failing. |
| 2005/3/12 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36664 Activity:nil |
3/12 Who says Microsoft is all that evil [red]?
http://www.choosetheblue.com/mainFrame.php?prodcat=Video+Games
Also, I'm definitely going to stop eating at Outback Steakhouse:
http://www.choosetheblue.com/mainNoFrame.php?special=outback
And here's why the blue loses. Almost all food/grocery stores are Red,
while almost all computer software and tech are blue. The reddies
don't have to (and are too stupid) to use computers, but the blues
can't survive without eating. |
| 2005/3/8-9 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Unix] UID:36574 Activity:moderate |
3/8 I am thinking of switching to cygwin, but I'm afraid of certain
things that bit me in the past. For example, will I run into
problems with DOS's stupid \r\n vs \n compatibility? How about
file names with caps? Say I tar up file names from DOS and bring
it to Linux, will it all get messed up because DOS is case
insensitive? Any other comment before I dive into cygwin? ok thx.
\_ Switching to cygwin from what, exactly? cygwin is designed to help
Unix people cope with Windows. It's not a complete port of the Unix
userland to Windows, and it's not a complete replacement for the
Windows shell (although it's getting better, on both counts). You
will notice assorted oddness that points out just how not-Unix it
is. Still, it's better than being stuck with cmd.exe if you find
yourself flailing with the normal Windows UI. (I know I do.)
To answer your particular questions:
you can tell Cygwin what to use as the end-of-line sequence; cygwin
commands and filenames are case-sensitive; tarballs will be extracted
with the same capitalization as is used on the Windows machine;
beware of absolute paths (cygwin represents C: as /cygdrive/c,
which confuses many Windows apps) and the direction of slashes
(most Windows apps handle / as a directory separator, but Cygwin
doesn't like unquoted, unescaped \ for same). All in all, I'm
quite happy with it. -gm
\_ I also need basic scripting like Perl and Bash. Are those
included in the cygwin distribution?
\_ They're available. Bash is in the default install. For perl,
expand the "Interpreters" tab in the installer and select it.
\_ Yeah, I use Cygwin with Windoze too. It's great. I'm usually
in a cmd.exe window and hardly ever use tcsh or bash shells.
Most frequently used commands are zip, unzip, tar, and grep.
Your biggest challenge will be figuring out which packages to
download.
\_ I'll second it being great. I use tcsh almost exclusively instead
of cmd.exe now. The rootless Xserver (X-windows mix with your
regular Windows-windows and don't take over the whole screen)
isn't stellar but it works fine. Command line scp, globbing,
xterm.. lots of nice stuff. --dbushong |
| 2005/2/26-28 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36436 Activity:nil |
2/26 To the person who for some reason wanted X-style copy/paste on
Windows: http://fy.chalmers.se/~appro/nt/TXMouse
\_ Related, there's a MS Powertoy that does autoraise. |
| 2005/2/23-25 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36380 Activity:nil |
2/24 [Reposted because nobody responded]
I'm wondering who has experience with different personal finance
software. It needs to run under windows, but Windows+Cygwin is OK too.
Mostly I'm looking for ease of use and not integrating itself into the
OS any more than it should. I need basic budgeting and maybe some tax
planning and investment tracking.
\- quicken works fine for me. cheap and does what you want.
\_ obYermom
\_ quicken for balancing accounts, excel for investment tracking. |
| 2005/2/23 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Recreation/Media] UID:36373 Activity:high |
2/22 Episode 3 revealed:
http://www.tpu.fi/~t4jlaaks/ep3
This one might actually be worth the bw to d/l.
\_ Server doesn't work.
\_ Server doesn't work. Try http://nerdfilter.com -- obSPOILERS
\_ Worked last night when he posted it.
\_ They down as well.
\_ Obviously none of you has looked at the http://slashdot.org front page
today.
\_ I don't read it, but I did and found a link to the very
URL posted above. It doesn't work. It did yesterday.
\_ Yes, that's called "The Slashdot Effect". It's what happens
to a server when millions of people hit the URL in a short
time. It often becomes unavaliable. |
| 2005/2/18-20 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36241 Activity:moderate |
2/18 How do I _really_ exit Windows Messenger on XP? It either
complains that something else (Outlook/Outlook Express/MSN
Exploer, and none of which is installed) is running and
refuses to close itself or it would exit but the its process is
still left running. A search on Google only tells me how to
remove Windows Messenger. But what if I simply want it to
exit cleanly? I want to just dump it but everyone in the
company uses it. I have installed GAIM and it works fine but
I am still curious whether it's possible to make Windows Messenger
really exit.
\_ USE LINUX!
\_ go under options. there's a checkbox to make it exit on close
or something.
\_ There is a checkbox to disallow it to run in the background,
which would cause the program to exit on close (rather
than just being minimized) when checked.
But if you run Task Manager, you can see the process is
still well and alive.
\_ well, you have to select file | exit for it to close. |
| 2005/2/9 [Computer/SW, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:36122 Activity:nil |
2/9 Is there a way to find out the name of a user with a hotmail account?
There is a person that keeps emailing our listserve from a hotmail
account, never revealing their identity, and no one knows who this person
is. Anyone have any good ideas?
\_ A leveraged buyout of Microsoft should do the trick.
\_ let's hear some better ideas. |
| 2005/2/8-9 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:36099 Activity:kinda low |
2/8 I would like to destroy/wipe the data in a particular directory
of a portable linux computer without wiping the whole disk. Any
suggestions for how to do this easily?
\_ rm. If you are worried aboyt someone undeleting and
discovering your porno collection you can write a script
and overwrite each file with /dev/zero bits.
\_ any experience with "wipe"? http://abaababa.ouvaton.org/wipe
\_ When you write data to a linux file, does it write the data to
new sectors, or does it overwirte the original data in the same
sectors?
\_ Overwriting with 0 isn't good enough. /dev/random might be
better, but still isn't good enough.
\_ If you are very concerned about getting rid of it, some
definitions of "military" grade wipe specify something
like 19 overwrites with as-random-as-possible 010101
strings. Forensics outfits like Kroll and Guidance (and
even commercial SW like EnCase) can do some pretty unlikely
data recovery. The only way to reliably completely
destroy drive contents is to physically shred the disk
after multiple sequential white noise overwrites. -John
\_ dropping it from Empire State Building is the best
\_ rm -P
This won't actually do the job (see
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/sdelete.shtml for a windows
utility that will do the job--source available) but it's better than
nothing. (Oops, I have no idea if that option is available on
linux.)
\_ The rm manpage recommends "shred". Anybody know if shread
would work on ext3 with data=journal mode?
\_ It should. If in doubt, mount the partition as ext2,
run shred, unmount and remount as ext3. |
| 2005/1/29-30 [Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers, Computer/SW/Languages/Misc, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35971 Activity:moderate |
1/29 How can I convert my IE favorites into an html file that I can
put on my web page? And then how to I make it accessible only
via passwd?
\_ IE has "file -> export favorites" or something. It exports
to bookmark.htm or something. Then read up on htpasswd.
\_ And to answer your other question that somebody overwrote,
the firefox favorites (for windows) are in your profile,
which is in a hidden windows folder C:\Documents and Settings
\username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles |
| 2005/1/18-19 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35775 Activity:very high |
1/18 And now, a non political question. I want to do semi-transparent
on a bitmap. Is turning every other bit transparent and staggering
this on every line effective?
\_ It does work, but it doesn't look great. As the poster below
suggested, use a bitmap format with real translucency (like PNG)
if you can.
\_ Are you chinese? Do you understand the effects opium trade
had on china?
\_ Fuck you and your bitmaps. How much did Karl Rove pay you to
to say that about bitmaps?
\_ Obviously you've never served.
\_ Uh, you mean a checkerboard pattern? =P Sure, it's fine, except
that if by "bitmap" you mean a "Windows bitmap", then you don't
get any transparency.
\_ This can make nasty moire patterns on CRT monitors, in case that
matters to OP.
\_ use png files if you can
\_ The easiest way is to create a layered image in whatever tool you
prefer (photoshop, psp, gimp, etc.) and set the transparency. Do
you want to simply make 1 bitmap? Many? Programatically?
\_ I want to have a floating bitmap as a window (already
accomplished) that is semi-transparent so that you can see
everything behind the window. Other option I suppose is to
take a clipped screenshot of everything behind the window
and do an alpha on the two bitmaps, but that seems
to be somewhat difficult to accomplish.
\_ On Windows 2000 or XP, why not use normal alpha? |
| 2005/1/18-19 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Security] UID:35767 Activity:nil |
1/18 WinXP question. Let's say I have a backup folder, encrypted using
EFS. Then I backup my private keys using "cipher /x:keys".
Then one day my computer crashes and I'd like to read the
backup folder. How do I export the keys to a newly installed
WinXP so that it'll read the encrypted files? ok thx.
\_ I believe all you need is to attach the hard drive to another
computer (via IDE or external drive) and login with the same
username and password, and the files will magically decrypt
as you open them.
If you want to access the files with another username, there
are steps in the link (search for "import your keys"), but it
sounds complicated.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/topics/crypto/efs.mspx |
| 2005/1/11-12 [Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35649 Activity:moderate |
1/11 Yawn. Another reason to switch away from IE.
"Yahoo! News - 'Extremely Critical' Flaw Threatens Internet Explorer
Users"
http://csua.org/u/anv
\_ who uses IE anymore?
\_ ~90% of web surfers, sadly.
\_ A lot of intranet web apps are written such that they require IE
to function (ActiveX stuff). The SF Police crime statistics
site requires IE. Design decisions are not always made by smart
people. "Who needs standards when we can standardize on MS!"
\_ That's awesome. The fastest growing crime is identity
theft, and the SF Police crime site require IE. Trying
to boost that stats, are we?
\_ Viruses, crashes, hiring hordes of admins to keep the
rickety systems functional -- Yet Windows just keeps
becoming more popular.
\_ In this sense, Windoze keeps the economy going.
\_ Only in the sense that an inefficient economy is
a good economy. |
| 2005/1/4 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35534 Activity:nil |
1/4 When is Bill Gates the philanthropist going to donate
millions of dollars worth of Windows XP license to the
tsunami victims? They really need an OS right now.
How about the super wealthy Walton/Republican families?
\_ Why bother, the countries affected probably already have i
pre-release versions of Longhorn pirated. |
| 2004/12/29-30 [Computer/SW/Apps/Media, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35485 Activity:moderate |
12/29 Need a degauser to erase stuff quickly. Anyone know of a good,
relatively safe one that isn't too pricey?
\_ Do you just need to erase magnetic media? Something like
SecureDelete might be a better solution (hint: degaussing doesn't
delete your data as well as you might think). See:
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/sdelete.shtml
\_ That's fine and all, but I've got to delete non-digital media
as well. I guess I'll go to Radio Shack. I just don't want to
get something that A) doesn't work or B) works so well that it
erases my credit cards and USB sticks in my pocket. And
security is not really that big of an issue, we will be
re-using media...
\_ err... can credit cards really be erased, I thought they
were just had UPC scan codes or something.
\_ Yes, they can. If you work around high magnetic fields
(several Tesla), having your credit card get in the field
will make it stop working. I don't know if the data
on it are totally erased, but I know you need a new
credit card.
\_ sign up for a MRI scan and take the media to the inside. |
| 2004/12/26-27 [Computer/SW/OS/Linux, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35445 Activity:nil |
12/26 Anyone who has written device drivers for Windows and Linux befor?
I would like to know your opinions on what are difficulties for
mediocre programmers to get started on writing device drivers for
Linux. lack of IDE tools? lack of tutrial code segment? thx
-kngharv
\_ I have written file system drivers for both, and have written
some USB/serial filter drivers for Windows. What would you
specifically like to know? -williamc
\_ cool. I'll email you for things I want to know. for those
who are interested in the subject, let me know so i put you
in the loop. |
| 2004/12/23-25 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/OS/VM] UID:35420 Activity:nil 62%like:35430 |
12/23 I'd like to install WinXP Pro in my VMware virtual machine.
What's the cheapest way to get a legit version of WinXP Pro?
\_ If you bought the box as a whole and got an OEM copy, or if from
someone who installed unix and doesn't use their license. Otherwise
on ebay. I'm not familiar with the arcana of US software licensing
laws, but if it's not legal to install a paid-for (bought or OEM)
copy of software xyz on _a single box (regardless where) then who
gives a flying fark. -John |
| 2004/12/22-23 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35411 Activity:nil |
12/22 Most villagers at Bangalore embrace Microsoft over open source.
Microsoft is chosen as the networking solution for the state's
utilities and services for 55 million people:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/12/21/india.microsoft.support.ap |
| 2004/12/22-23 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Apps/Media] UID:35410 Activity:nil |
12/22 First, the OS dominance, then the browser dominance, and now,
media player dominance:
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=353887 |
| 2004/12/20 [Computer/SW/P2P, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35362 Activity:high |
12/19 http://suprnova.org is down again, I guess the corporations are winning... \_ This time you're actually right. It has (apparently) gone down permenently. permanently. \_ what's the best replacement out there atm? \_ I don't know, but http://lokitorrent.com seems pretty good, 1.5 million active peers according to the site. Registration req'd. active peers according to the site. (free) registration req'd. \_ I've never liked bittorrent, it always stalls on me. I also find it difficult to find anything with it. The only thing I found it good was was dling some anime. \_ This makes you ... a loser. good was dling some anime. \_ BT is the suck for illegal content, as it's always going to rely on the tracker being available. For legit downloads, like OS .isos and such, it rocks. -John \_ I use it exclusively for TV shows I've missed. It seems to do the trick. \_ where do you find sources? \_ Up until last week, http://suprnova.org \_ "Google"? -John \_ It's great for "popular" illegal content. I see tons of stuff out there, almost all recent stuff appears on there and will be fast for a time. Within those parameters it's the best. It does rely on having popular listing sites like suprnova. \_ so are there any good suprnova replacement sites? \_ I suspect they simply paid the site owners off. \_ Check the http://slashdot.org thread about it. Several other sites are mentioned as alternatives. \_ If you know good ones can you name a couple? I hate slashdot threads. \_ empornium.us. 3 guesses what kind of torrents *they* host. |
| 2004/12/17-20 [Computer/SW/Languages/Misc, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35349 Activity:kinda low |
12/17 Hey ASIC designers. What are some good drawing tools out there
to do documentation stuff? This is for things like drawing
waveforms, block diagrams, boolean gates, transistor symbols.
Something on a non-Windows platform would be preferable.
\_ Illustrator?
\_ OmniGraffle on MacOSX
\_ I've noticed that drawings copied-and-pasted from Omni
into Word end up rasterized instead of preserving their
vector format.
\_ xfig on any unix. export to CGM and import to
MS Office to retain vector format. export to EPS
and include in latex docs. learn its quirks and
never look back.
\_ Try File->Export and then choose PDF Vector or EPS
and then try using Insert->Picture->From File in
Word.
\_ /usr/local/bin/cowsay
\_ Everybody seems to use Visio.
\_ Microsoft paint
\_ Synapticad is hands down the best for timing diagrams. Bloody
expensive for what it does, though.
\_ brlcad.
\_ xfig |
| 2004/12/17-19 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:35348 Activity:low |
12/17 Is there a way in WinXP to make it re-scan the USB bus to notice a
hard drive that was already attatched at boot time? Restarting or
replugging the hard drive works, but it's not automatable and is
therefore inelegant.
\_ Open your device manager and click the icon on the toolbar to
rescan devices. WinXP rescans all hardware and finds your
stuff. - jvarga
\_ AFAIK no, there is no way. The only "way" is to disable and then
re-enable the USB interface through device manager, which is the
software equivalent of restarting or replugging in the drive.
If you do this a lot then you might want to do it this way since
the USB port does wear out.
\_ Not to dispute your claim (more out of shock really), but XP
doesn't scan the bus at (or soon after) bootup? That sounds
extremely strange- does anybody know any justification for this
decision?
\_ Normal startup, yes. After a hard crash, no. |
| 2004/12/9-12 [Computer/SW/Languages/Misc, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35234 Activity:moderate |
12/9 I have a "friend" who needs to convert ~100 .bmp images to jpg.
Is there a free Windows program that can do this in some kind
of batch job?
\_ irfanview
\_ ImageMagick for Windows
\_ imagemagick rocks - available also as part of the cygwin
package.
\_ Why do you need to quote "friend"? I mean is it a 'friend'?
\- it is for my drug dealer; but i get a discount aka
friend price.
\_ Don't ask questions like that. Explaining it kills it.
\_ It's probably the same guy that didn't get the 5% question
yesterday.
\_ could be a former coworker, someone you don't hang out
with outside of work and don't really know outside of
a former job.
\_ that's an associate, not a "friend"
\_ not all of us got a 500 on the vocab
section of the GRE
\- big up yourself. |
| 2004/12/3-4 [Health/Men, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35160 Activity:moderate |
12/3 Kerik looks like a tough NY City Cop
\_ But will the entire DHS still run Windows? Homeland "Security"
indeed! None of that pointy-headed European OS!
\_ I read most Navy ships run winblows now as well.
\_ And the Powell smote the Kerik...
12/3
.--""-.
.-' '-.
: :
: .--, : .--.
: : : : .' ".__.---.__.-.._
: '--' : : 66 ..--'"""--.
: : ' _ .' !
'-. .' '--' '-.___.'
'-.._.-'
\_ w00t!
\_ what does w00t mean?
\_ yermom asked the same thing last night!
\_ yermom kept asking me the same thing last night!
\_ fuck you you piece of shit.
\_ Sperms have eyes?
\_ of course! Just think: every time you masturbate, millions of
sperm are staring up at you with their sad, lonely eyes. Won't
you please think of the sperm?
\_ how do white blood cells sense what to attack? |
| 2004/12/1-3 [Computer/SW/Apps, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35144 Activity:nil |
12/1 I have Acrobat Reader 5.0.1 on NT and 5.0.5 on XP. In the Preferences
dialog, I can go through different categories freely except "Web Buy".
When I try to go to "Web Buy" for the first time since I bring up
the Preferences dialog, Acrobat Reader locks up for up to a minute
before it works again. After than, I can leave "Web Buy" and go to it
again freely. Has anyone else seen this problem? If I close the
Preferences dialog and bring it up again, the same problem happens
again. I've already de-selected "Enable Web Buy" but it didn't help.
Thanks.
\_ I have seen similar behavior when it tries to update itself but
can't reach whatever Adobe cave it's trying to get to. Consider
sniffing traffic to see what it's sending. -John |
| 2004/11/25-27 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35074 Activity:nil |
11/25 Looking for a syslogd that can write to Windows event log (preferably
free.) I hope to find something that can
-Understand syslog facility/priority
-Filter based on sending IP
-Write to a custom event viewer facility (i.e. not the default
application/system/security.)
Unfortunately, running a Real OS (tm) is not an option. SL4NT does
not do #2 and #3. Anyone have any tips/suggestions? |
| 2004/11/23 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:35039 Activity:high |
11/22 Asta la vista Rather!
\_ ITYM hasta.
\_ What do you mean? Nevermind, I'm going out to get a kesadeeya.
\- "I like the austrian way better" --psb |
| 2004/11/22 [Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers, Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Recreation/Media] UID:35008 Activity:nil |
11/22 Monkey Shakespeare Simulator
http://user.tninet.se/~ecf599g/aardasnails/java/Monkey/webpages |
| 2004/11/19-21 [Computer/SW/OS/Linux, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:34991 Activity:high |
11/19 http://tinyurl.com/64f2b (cnn.com) Microsoft Warns Linux lawsuits. \_ Which crack pipe did Balmer smoke from when he made this announcement? What total FUD. \- I like: "Nobody ever knows who built open-source software!" \- I like: "Nobody ever knows who built open-source software!"--psb \_ In some ways this is true. Do you really know who wrote your linux ethernet driver, or who was resp. for the png library that mozilla uses? You could probably find out with some work for most things, but there are lots of bits and pieces that are completely unattributed. \_ Actually, it's funny. I once had what I thought was a buggy Freebsd ethernet driver, and it wasn't very hard to find out the exact person responsible, mail him, and get a reply (ultimately I had a hardware problem). That's not something I could have done with MS. -- ilyas \_ Personally I prefer OSS, I've had to debug lots of things (squid, tomcat, nfs, ...) and it was much easier on FreeBSD/Linux b/c I had the source. However, many of the src files were completely unattriubted and even the project leaders didn't quite know how some of the stuff worked. It wasn't like OSS was any better than M$ (or other comm. vendors). \- it's not like there is any liability that attaches to msft if their os is unreliable. "who cares".--psb to msft if their os is unreliable. "who cares". to msft if their os is unreliable, so "who cares". i think far more significantly msft code base is so large, they are the ones with problems tracking things down due to complexity. --psb \_ Seconded. MS was actually pretty cooperative with my last client, although they have a small country organization, and the client is the 800lbs gorilla here. The best actual business-valid reason I can get out of most management against OSS is "there's no one to sue", which is bunkum--I've never known this to be the case. The more appropriate phrase is "no one ever got fired for hiring IBM." It's purely a psychological safety blanket for the "more expensive must mean it's better" crowd. I'm currently working with a big outfit considering an OSS solution both on its technical merits, and on the idea that, if something is broken, they can hire someone to come fix it... -John |
| 2004/11/18-19 [Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:34954 Activity:nil |
11/18 Does anyone know where the cache directories in Firefox under NT and XP
are? I can't find it in Help.
\_ %USERPROFILE%\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\<name>\Cache
\_ If you want to change it, google. I changed mine yesterday. |
| 2004/11/16 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:34917 Activity:nil |
11/15 What's the best free software for finding and removing
spyware from Windows 95/98/me/2000/xp?
\_ AdAware and Spybot in tandem.
\_ Not always.
\_ That's what I use. What's better than that (and free)? |
| 2004/11/12 [Computer/HW/Drives, Computer/SW/OS/Linux, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:34853 Activity:moderate |
11/12 Dual boot question: I had a hard drive set up with dual boot.
XP and Linux. I had problems with the Windows partition.
I got a new hard drive. I connected the new hard drive and set it
as the slave drive. I went into setup and set it to boot from the
slave drive (the new one). I then reinstalled XP on the new drive.
Oops. My boot loader on the original drive got overwritten. The
Linux partition is still there, but I can't boot to Linux. I need
to resetup my dual boot. I would like to have 2 options when I
turn on my computer. One option would boot to my Linux partition
on my original hard disk (now set as the master). The other option
would be to boot to XP on the new hard disk (now set as the slave).
I think I want to go into setup and have it boot from the master,
and then use my Red Hat CD to resetup the boot loader. But I'm
not really sure what I'm doing and I don't want to screw things up.
I don't want to reinstall Linux. I simply want to fix the boot
loader. Please help!
\_ You are already on the right track. You can boot either from
the first install CD or you can use the .iso image for the emergency
cd. It will guide you through mounting your existing RedHat
partition. You can then use either grub or lilo to reinstall the
bootblock on the master CD... but you will need to make changes
to either your lilo.conf or grub.conf to tell it to book
XP from the other drive now instead. Once you finish that, you can
go back into the bios and tell it to boot from the primary hd again.
\_ You should have installed XP first, then Linux. Windows loves
to scribble over the boot partition of every disk it can find.
Having said that, if you want to avoid having to reinstall
Linux, you will need to boot from a linux boot floppy. At
least, that was the only thing I could figure out to do
when I was in your boat. Maybe one of these 3l33+3 linux
hackers has a better way.
\_ Well, I don't need to install Linux. I only need to setup
the boot loader. Are you sure this is the same situation
you were in? Windows is installed on one drive. Linux on
another. And I just want to modify the boot loader, not
install anything.
\_ When you installed Windows XP it overwrote the MBR on your
Linux drive, so no you don't really have Linux installed
right now. You have a partial linux installation, that you
need to repair. I don't know how to do that.
\_ This is far too much spew for a simple question. Why do we need
to see useless details about your disks and blah blah? Anyway
just boot using the floppy and run the lilo tool or whatever.
\_ The problem I've always had with dual-booting is that if one
disk goes bad, it can be a real pain to get the other up in
isolation. If you're using the Grub bootloader, I know you can
install windows to drive 0, take it out, then put your linux
drive in as 0 and install Linux. Then put the windows drive
back in as drive 1. You can then boot to Linux and set up grub
such that when you boot to your windows drive, your windows
drive is tricked into believeing it is drive 0. This setup is
a bit of work initially, but I've found it to be very robust.
If you're interested, I can tell you how to set up grub.
-jrleek (!Linux guru) |
| 2004/11/9-11 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:34788 Activity:nil |
11/9 I tried using FBSD 4.9 to format a 120GB drive as FAT32. The format
succeeded, but I can't mount the drive-- the error message mentions
the next free block exceeding the max. Win2k refuses to create FAT
partitions > 32GB because Win98 machines have 16 bit utilities that
might barf in that situation.
The point of the exercise is to have a single large partition that
can be accessed from multiple systems (via USB enclosure), and I'd
rather not split up the disk into separate partitions b/c I want to
use iTunes to manage my music collection, and I'm not sure it can
handle 2 or more root folders like this.
So, any advice as to what to try next?
\_ Sub-mounts.
\_ Will that work on Win2k too? Eventually I'd like to get a
Mac, where that's probably possible, but for now it's just
a Win2k laptop running iTunes. If I split up the 120GB disk
into 4 30GB FAT32 partitions, can I mount those on top of
each other w/o assigning a Windows drive letter?
\_ I don't think you can do it natively. However, the
commercial PGP version lets you mount a PGP disk in a
directory, so it might be possible. Why don't you want
separate drive letters if you have multiple partitions? -John
\_ Partition Magic boot disk? |
| 2004/11/8-9 [Industry/Jobs, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:34757 Activity:nil |
11/8 MS Search job available in Redmond: http://csua.org/u/9vd mfw@microsoft.com if you're interested --dbushong |
| 2004/11/8-9 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:34752 Activity:moderate |
11/7 Anyway I can print a PDF that has been locked with Printing set
to "Not Allowed"? thanks.
ghostscript is one way.
\_ I assume: ^I can^can I
Unlock it. If you can't, it's trivial to break PDF security.
ghostscript is one way.
\_ Elcomsoft has some toys, albeit commercial. I'm sure you'll find
a way. -John
\_ Didn't they give it away after the whole Dmitry Skylarov thing?
Or did other people "liberate" it for them?
\_ I don't know. I don't think you can get commercial
software, such as Windows XP, without buying it. -John
\_ Call whatever moron locked it and tell them to send you the doc
again without the stupid lock.
\_ pdf2ps --> ps2pdf (for giving the PDF to a Windows user) |
| 2004/11/8-9 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:34747 Activity:nil |
11/8 Got XP Pro. Tried to run "Repair". When it started running, it
said something like "37 minutes remaining". Hours later, it was
down to 32 minutes remaining. It's been stuck on "Installing
Devices - 32 minutes remaining" for about 12 hours. What should
I do? Why isn't this working?
\_ Sounds like a bad device driver that XP is trying to salvage
on the repair. The system might be so badly damaged that
it's better to just do a reinstall. What you want to do
is do an upgrade on top of your existing system, not a clean
install. That will take care of all the system files and
it will save your current settings. -williamc
\_ The only repair on XP is reinstall. Get a new hard drive,
reinstall, then try to recover your data. To be fair, Linux is the
same.
\_ You don't really need to do this if you're careful. Hosing
WindowsXP doesn't mean you hosed your hard drive partition.
\_ Why are you trying to run repair on it? http://Sysinternals.com has a lot
of cool toys/fixes for this sort of crap. -John |
| 2004/10/29-30 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:34436 Activity:kinda low |
10/29 Aaaagh! Engage fetal position! http://csua.org/u/9px \_ This sort of thing has been going on for some time now. Remember http://www.gcn.com/archives/gcn/1998/july13/cov2.htm ? Also, for some insight into software buying decisions in the UK and their ramifications, do a search for 'national police computer' or NPC. -John \_ Yes, I remember that story, the best quote by far is: "Although Unix is more reliable", Redman said, "NT may become more reliable with time.". What the fuck? \_ This gives a whole new meaning to the term "blue screen of death". One can imagine a Windows general protection fault in conjunction with icbms being accidently launched due someone accidently downloading MyDoom onto the computer. Wow, I guess The Terminator was a documentary after all... |
| 2004/10/22-24 [Computer/SW/Security, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:34300 Activity:kinda low 72%like:34296 |
10/22 XP Service Pack 2: Good or bad?
\_ No problem for me. I've installed it on a few systems.
\_ Mostly good, and no. It changes your TCP/IP stack such that if
are 10 half-open TCP connections, you can't open any more until
time out. This greatly slows the spread of worms but screws you
if you're running a mail server or P2P. The only fix is a hex-edit
of tcpip.sys
\_ I had some issues with regards to stability that were traced
to SP2's security center. Had to play around a bit to keep
the machine from locking up every hour or so. Others I've
talked to had problems with certain software, particularly
games, so they just went back to SP1.
\_ Mucked up my brother's Outlook Express such that he can't open
messages with attachments, but that's what he gets for using OE.
He switched to Thunderbird, and all is well.
\_ It takes five seconds to turn this off from the preferences
menu. Give me a break, you don't even know how to turn off
a preference in OE?
\_ My sister-in-law called my up and has been on the phone with
Microsoft because the XP SP2 failed halfway through and messed up
the system. It seems to be hit-and-miss in terms of the chances
for disaster. |
| 2004/10/22 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:34296 Activity:nil 72%like:34300 |
10/22 Microsoft Service Pack 2: Good or bad? In particular, do I need
to have it to run iTunes?
\_ XP SP2, I assume you mean...
\_ No problem for me. I've installed it on a few systems. |
| 2004/10/12 [Computer/HW/Memory, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:34065 Activity:nil |
10/12 Only what I want to talk about matters and I will keep posting it
and reposting it ad initium forever. Get used to it.
\_ Your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the
size of your Virtual Memory Paging file. |
| 2004/10/8-9 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:33992 Activity:nil |
10/8 If I am creating a swap/temp partition on a disk, is it better if the
partition is in the beginning? end? does it matter? Assuming beginning
is the center of the disk, it would imply it being faster, right?
\_ I don't know where the 'beginning' is, but in benchmarks, the
beginning is always faster.
I seem to remember some weird problem once where the boot loader
could not load kernels after like the 1024th sector or something.
\_ I want to create a 10GB temp partition and mount it under C:
for use as a temp directory...
\_ there is somethint seriously fallacious about attempting to optimize
performance while swapping. Eliminating swapping altogether should
be the priority.
\_ agreed. You're (op) really barking up the wrong tree, even for
a temp directory.
\_ I want to redirect everything temporary to this partition,
such as %temp, ie cache, etc. This is so that the main OS
partition does not get fragmented over time and becomes slower
and slower. It is generally easier to reformat the temp partition
and file writing on the temp partition is a lot faster than
on a fragmented main partition. We are talking about different
things. -op
\_ this is why one usually puts the 'temp' partition on a memory
based file system. Again in this case performance is
optimized by keeping this OFF THE DISK, making disk
performance needs mostly irrelevant.
\- partitioning makes sense. worring about underlying
physical layout is silly. nuff said. if you want to
waste your time, feel free. |
| 2004/10/7-8 [Computer/SW/Languages/Perl, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33976 Activity:high |
10/7 What is the best free mass-renaming application for windows? -thanks
\_ cygwin
\_ perl
\_ "ren *foo *bar" in Command Prompt.
\_ don't do that.
\_ why not?
\_ It would be bad.
\_ "Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping
instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding
at the speed of light."
\_ <gulp> Total protonic reversal. |
| 2004/10/1-4 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW] UID:33883 Activity:nil |
10/1 So I downloaded the gdi scan tool from: http://isc.sans.org/gdiscan.php and it detected a problematic gdiplus.dll for a 3rd party app. How do I fix it? \_ Bug the 3rd-party developer to fix it, or be very careful about viewing untrusted content with that App. If *any* program can view a 'questionable' JPEG, then the JPEG is not infected. All infected JPEGS are corrupt. \_ Well FYI it's Paint Shop Pro 9. Buyer beware. \_ To give an example of programs where you would least likely expect GDI+ to be used, I know that QuickBooks actually uses it, and they haven't replaced the GDIPLUS.DLL yet. In fact, they knew absolutely NOTHING about this security issue, and I had to IM a former co-worker there to tell him to get that shit patched ASAP. I'm glad I got the hell out of there. -phale \_ I was never too much of a l33t QuickBooks user, but where would you be opening some arbitrary jpegs with it? Designing a form layout? \_ Yah, designing a form layout for an invoice or something. But you can also download a form layout that somebody else has created, which will cause QB to open up any JPEGs that have been embedded inside of that form layout datafile. Granted, it isn't too likely this would happen, but I've found out the hard way never to underestimate the stupid things people do with their computers. -phale \_ But if the JPEGS are viruses, no benign user could embed them in the layout file (because it would crash). You'd need someone to construct a Quickbooks layout file virus. \_ Actually, no, you could create the file without QB opening up the JPEG during creation. It just does a simple copy into another datafile. But when the new file is opened by another user, the JPEG gets opened up. Short answer is that is possible, and I actually tried it already on one of my windoze 2000 boxes. I think I will leave it at that, as I've probably said way too much already. -phale \_ What the hell is Microsoft Ink, and why does it have an unpatched .dll on my machine? \_ Who is general failure, and why is he reading my disk!? \_ It's all the fault of General Protection. |
| 2004/9/28-29 [Computer/SW/Virus, Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/OS] UID:33794 Activity:nil |
9/28 First JPEG virus spotted in the wild, posted to:
alt.binaries.multimedia.transexuals and
alt.binaries.erotica.beanie-babies among others.
If you and your kin haven't patched your systems, get on it!
http://www.easynews.com/virus.txt
\_ Worth mentioning that even if you patch your OS, any number of
programs may include their own version of the GDI+ library, and thus
be vulnerable. |
| 2004/9/27-10/2 [Computer/SW/Languages/Misc, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33778 Activity:kinda low |
9/27 My company's looking for a PT IT support person (~10hrs/wks)
to support the 7 person office here at Berkeley (close to Golden Gate
Field ) Basically need to have a good understanding of Windows
networking, be able to setup machines and just a lot of misc. trouble
shooting with our Germany office. If interested send me your resume
at mch@soda.berkely.edu Pays about $15-$30/hr DOE
\_ Wow, that's really low. Guess you're looking for a student.
\_ Look at the tasks involved. My brother who's 16 could do this..
\_ Well, your brother who's 16 can also probably be trained
to run a DNA sequencing machine. That doesn't mean a
mission critical lab should hire him. Setting up a bunch
of machines on a network running Windows is trivial.
Setting up a bunch of machines on a network running
Windows so you won't get hacked within 24 hours isn't.
Setting up a network which is redundant so you won't
lose all your data when the hard disk warranty goes
out the window isn't a $300 per week task.
\_ It might be a 10hrs/week task, but that's more than
$300/wk.
\_ http://www.supportresort.com
\_ http://supportempire.com
</pre></body></html>
</pre></body></html>
\_ http://supportempire.com
</pre></body></html>
</pre></body></html>
</pre></body></html> |
| 2004/9/23-24 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Languages/Java] UID:33732 Activity:very high |
9/23 Do you find a lack of respect for s/w developers and/or sysadmins
in your workplace? I am in management (former sysadmin) and
hearing management's opinions firsthand is now shocking and
depressing. Time to switch careers or are there places that treat
IT with respect? BTW, my team has members from Caltech, Harvey
Mudd, USC, Berkeley... so it's not like we're a bunch of idiots
at a help desk.
\_ My experience is that people hate IT because they are highly
dependant on them, they usually get paid manager scale salary
or higher as staff and most sw dev and/or SA are incompetent
assholes. There really truly are enough real fucking losers out
there that it makes all of us look like shit forever. When you
meet these people kindly ask them to find a new field and when
they don't, it is ok to knee cap them with a bat.
\_ In my experience, incompetent assholes are much more prevalent
among management than among software people or sysadmins.
The higher the position, the more likely the guy is an
incompetent asshole. -- ilyas
\_ ilyas, have you ever read Alan Cooper's book "The Inmates
Are Running The Asylum?" I highly recommend it to anyone
that thinks software people _aren't_ the problem.
\_ I haven't read it. But isn't that book about problems with
software development? I thought this thread was more
about problems in computer industry corporations? Actually,
I think the problem is wider than the computer industry.
In my more marxist days, I can't help but think there is
a middle management parasite class. -- ilyas
\_ You mean you really are a dictionary-definition "neocon"?
-- ulysses
\_ I don't know what that word means. -- ilyas
\_ Do you have a tough time with reading
comprehension? Or do you just disagree with
the Christian Science Monitor defintion of it?
http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/neocon101.html
\_ If Cheney and I are both neocons, then that
label is meaningless. I disagree (or at
least disagreed in 2000) with Cheney on
almost everything. -- ilyas
\_ I just heard a line from a guy I work with that you might
appreciate. "Sure, I'm a minority. I'm in the minority of
people who know what the fuck they're doing."
\_ Well, yeah THAT's true. You should see some of the crap IT
people there are out there. Clueless and unwilling to
learn. The worst combo in IT.
\_ If you fail to understand the hatred of sysadmins/IT types
by almost all workers of all types(including even blue collar
workers now) you are probably part of the problem. As my old
boss from when I worked in the fishing industry put it "it's
getting to where you can't take a shit without dealing with one
of these pointy headed computer fuckers." Computers are
loathesome for most people to use, and their major human contact
with this issue is through IT people.
\_ my manager said there's no respect because engineering is just
a disposable resource. I left that company 5 years ago.
\_ Is that company floundering? emarkp's company had an
additude like that and it died fairly quickly.
\_ hint: *everyone* is a disposable resource. if you think you're
not disposable doing whatever it is that you do then you're
either a truly unique contributor or you're truly naive.
*everyone* can be replaced at most companies.
\_ Here at the lab, we get lots of respect. Work at LLNL! -jrleek
\_ That's what they have when you are not in listening range.
\_ Exactly. I thought the same thing until I got promoted.
CS types are supposedly trained monkeys that make too
much money "but it's what the market will bear".
\_ Ummm.. have you worked at the lab, or are you talking
about a different place? My management is almost
entriely CS guys, up until you get the the very top,
where it becomes Physics PhDs. Admittedly, the
Physics guys don't think much of CS, but they don't
think much of ANYONE who isn't a Physics PhD. -jrleek
\_ Until they need someone to fix their Blackberry. :-)
\_ Ah, but the Physics guy could fix it in theory!
All this implementation stuff is just
engineering.
\_ You are confirming what I said. The CS guys think
highly of CS, but not anyone else (physics in this
case). I have worked several places in academia as
well as industry and for the government. |
| 2004/9/22 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Unix] UID:33697 Activity:high |
9/22 Is there a way to repeat the previos command in the Windows2000
MS-DOS prompt running inside Windows? (like the up arrow in bash)
\_ ilyas, I am stomping your response to teach you a lesson about
stomping other people's posts.
\_ Wow, ilyas stomped the two "F3" answers with his update. What
an asshole.
\_ F3.
\_ up arrow works for me
\_ Neither "up arrow" nor "F3" do it in http://command.com in my version
of win2kpro. Do I have to run http://command.com with some special
option?
\_ You need to run the (included) shell cmd.exe. I said that
already but ilyas stomped it.
\_ sweet! thanks. Does windows have a command like "date"
that prints out the current time/date? does is also
have a way to run multiple commands in one line like:
soda % date ; ls ; date
\_ Do this: "date /t & time /t"
\_ YMWTS: (-pp)
\_ what's that mean?
\_ You Might Want To See:
\_ "You might want to see"?
\_ what does "(-pp)" mean?
\_ Thanks. Anyway to get it to display seconds?
\_ time
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/using/productdoc/en/default.asp
url=/windowsxp/home/using/productdoc/en/ntcmds.asp |
| 2004/9/20-21 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33646 Activity:nil |
9/20 I have a USB 2.0 hub. If I have devices connected to it that
use both USB 2.0 and 1.1, will the 1.1 devices slow down 2.0
devices? ok thx.
\_ http://www.everythingusb.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=796 |
| 2004/9/16-17 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Compilers] UID:33574 Activity:kinda low |
9/16 I want to compile a simple Windows console app, are there any
gnu/free compilers for windows that would do it? I'd rather not
install visual studio and all its crap... my app is in C and calls
windows APIs.. thanks.
\_ I'd say Cygwin but it probably doesn't support your Windows calls.
Just out of curiosity, what sort of console app could you write
that uses the Windows (as opposed to POSIX or something) API?
\_ I have calls that access the windows registry...
\_ Cygwin supports all standard Win32 calls. --sky
\_ MS's C++ compiler is free now. If you want free as in speech,
you can look into mingw (which is better than cygwin in that the
produced binaries don't require the cygwin DLL). --jameslin
\_ LPTSTR, LPCTSTR is not defined?? geez, I have to define them
manually? Seems like a lot of windows constants are not defined
ie, windows.h, etc...
\_ In my SDK installation both are defined in WinNT.h.
\_ borland has free older compilers, but I'm not sure if they
support the window api's. |
| 2004/9/14-15 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33532 Activity:moderate |
9/14 Another day, another critical Windows vulnerability:
Buffer overflow in JPEG reading code could lead to arbitrary code
execution, crying baby Jesus.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,117776,00.asp
\_ Don't worry, the attacker would have to persuade the user to
open a jpg! How likely is that?
\_ email worm in 3, 2, 1...
\_ if only they would hire more permanent engineers instead
of contractors who dont give a rats ass...
9/e Shit |
| 2004/9/11-12 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33473 Activity:very high |
9/11 I've got a Windows 2000 machine with a 10GB disk. I've got
a new fast 80GB disk, and I'd like to copy the whole
windows installation from one disk to the other.
Any recommendations on how to do this?
Is linux fdisk and dd the right solution?
\_ WooOOOOooooOOOooo!!! Use GhoooOOOooooOOoost!!!
\_ Norton Ghost is the way to go ... Is it happy with all-NTFS yet?
the version I've got can copy NTFS to and from FAT32 but not NTFS,
since it's running on DOS. I only mention this because I think FAT32
conks out at 32 Gb? Someone please correct ...
\_ FAT32 does not conk out at 32GB, however, W2k conks out trying
to create FAT32 >32GB. It's not a limitation of FAT32, but a
W2k bug. You can create FAT32 partition greater than 32GB even
with FreeBSD. W2k will read it just fine, too. It just can't
create it. Talk about software quality control.
\_ Most versions of Ghost should handle it just fine, using
disk-to-disk. It can't put the image file (*.gho) onto an NTFS
partition, but it can restore the image to an NTFS partition.
I believe linux "dd" might also be a solution (say, using a Knoppix
live CD and dup'ing disk to disk). But I've never tried it.
\_ FAT16 conks out at 2GB...
\_ the current disk has one 10GB NTFS partition. -op
\_ Then ghost disk-to-disk is your best bet. |
| 2004/9/8 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33414 Activity:nil |
9/8 1000!
\_ Any prediction on when it'll reach 2000? 3000? |
| 2004/9/7-8 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33391 Activity:nil |
9/7 Has anyone used USB under NT by running some third-party driver? Does
it work as well as in Win2k or XP? Thanks.
\_ no. but i have to wonder, why?
\_ Because I don't have 2K or XP. |
| 2004/9/3-4 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33346 Activity:low |
9/3 What's the difference between XP Home Ed and XP Pro? Can I map
company network drives if I dial in with XP Home Ed? Thx.
\_ You can't log into a domain with Home.
\_ http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx
\_ Price. |
| 2004/9/3-4 [Computer/Networking, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33341 Activity:high |
9/3 Is it safe to upgrade to XP SP2?
\_ that entirely depends on what you use it for.
If it's work related, you should check with your IT staff.
There is already 1 issue reported related to compat. with
NetApps.
\_ The most common issue is the new firewall. If you are currently
running a firewall or have apps that take incoming connections, be
prepared to do some reconfiguring.
\_ I told everyone in my company not to do it and if they did, they're
on their own. Having SP2 installed fucked up a remote QA test.
We thought the site was broken until the tester switched to *any*
other machine. It was fucking up the tcp handshake in a bad way
that ethereal could see/report.
\_ So instead of trying to track down WHY SP2 was screwing up your
tcp/ip stack you simply just tell people not to install SP2.
Good job. Now, when people start buying new machines with SP2
already installed you won't know how to fix it. -williamc
\_ MS itself posted a very long list of applications that have
various problems with SP2, not just because of the firewall.
Portions of SP2 itself also have security issue. OP may not
have elaborated sufficiently on his reasons, but I think
it's legit to recommend not installing it until some very
fundamental problems have been addressed. SP2 is a horrid
mix of fixes for shit problems and new features, and few
people know what it really "does". That said, a combo of
good firewall and AV software should cover you until SP2's
implications are well enough known. -John
\_ Perhaps, but saying "we don't install SP2" isn't an exactly
an answer I would want from my IT team. I would want an
answer like "we are having issues with SP2, we have
contacted our vendors and are trying to resolve it, in
the mean time sit tight." That's the way we do things
in our IT dept. whether it's SP2 or a Solaris patch. If
software screws up, it's IT's responsibility to figure
out why. "If you install SP2 you're on your own" is not
a valid answer.
-williamc |
| 2004/9/2 [Computer/SW/Unix, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33307 Activity:high |
9/2 Windows is finding executables not in my path, does anyone know
how the lookup is done? it runs abc.exe even though abc.exe is
no where in my path. Thanks.
\_ Are you referring to Start button -> Run, or from a console window?
For example, if I run msconfig.exe from a DOS prompt, I get no
command found. If I run it from the Start -> Run, it gets run.
\_ start/run
\_ Windows stores the paths to certain executables in the
registry in
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths |
| 2004/9/2 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33295 Activity:kinda low |
9/2 Hi, my old PC can dual-boot between DOS (don't laugh) and NT. It has
quite a few NT apps installed. Now if I install Win2k or XP onto the
PC, will I be able to dual-boot between DOS, NT, and 2k or XP? Does it
matter if I install it on the same or different hard disk? Also, will
I have to re-install all the NT apps in order to run them in 2k or XP?
Thanks.
\_ It is possible to boot all those OS's but you should do backup first
and practice on some other box first. It's very easy to fuck it up.
\_ If you 'upgrade' your NT to XP, then you don't need to reinstall
all the apps, but you probably can't dual boot to NT anymore. If
you installed XP on another partition, then you can dual boot to NT,
but you probably need to reinstall all the software again. As for DOS,
installing XP will override the current boot sector, which should be
that of NT, your dos boot sector is in bootsec.dos (or something like
that) and should continue to work.
\_ Can the XP bootloader be configured to load DOS and NT
partitions?
\_ I think so, but they all want some files on C:, which is kind
of messy to deal with. If you really want to dual boot that
many OS, I've heard good things about VMware, or use the linux
boot loader.
\_ I am a hardcore DOS fan and I havn't ran dos for years, what exactly
do you need DOS for? My pentium system died a few years ago and I
haven't ran dos since. What I do have is a nice boot disk containing
lots of what use to be useful utilities for emergencies. But in the
days of booting from CD directly, I havn't used it either. Just do
a clean install of XP and you'll thank yourself. upgrading from a dual
boot system of dos/NT is just not worth the trouble. If you really want
a dos system, put it on a old machine.
\_ I use DOS for exactly the same thing as you do - boot diskettes
with utilities for emergencies. So I need a hard disk that can
boot DOS such that I'll able to make new boot diskettes when the
old ones fade away and no longer boot. |
| 2004/8/30 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33224 Activity:moderate |
8/30 A usable tablet pc:
http://www.express.nec.co.jp/products/versapro/tablet_pc/index.html
http://www.nec.co.jp/press/ja/0408/3001.html
\_ You mean "tablet" PC? |
| 2004/8/30-31 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Apps/Media] UID:33219 Activity:high |
8/30 Can somebody suggest the most minimally annoying way to view Real
format media in windows? Everything I've seen for the past few years
from Real keeps installing crap silently and then popping up
windows at random intervals.
\_ I think VLC http://videolan.org plays everything
\_ www.filesharingplace .. get the K-lite full pack
\_ BBC's website has/used to have a specially-licensed adware free
version... but they're moving to their own codec so it might not
be around much longer.
\_ Real Alternative.
E.g., http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm
\_ Seconded. Avoid codec packs unless you want to install a bunch
of useless, old, and broken codecs.
\_ Can someone explain why Real and their format still exist? How do
they make money?
\_ On the other hand, Real is still the only company that bothers
to produce a native Unix version of their player.
\_ Yes and that makes them money?
\_ maybe, but only indirectly. They can say to potential
customers, "Look, our client software runs on more
platforms than MS media player or Quicktime". Notice
that http://webcast.berkeley.edu is using Real format, probably
for this very reason.
\_ Apple makes a native Unix version of their player.
(If Linux counts as *nix, MacOS X counts too).
\_ Their server-side software costs money and for the last
few years they have been trying to reinvent themselves into
a subscription-based media portal.
\_ Thanks.
\_ i don't know what planet you are from, but I've been using the
newer Realplayer 10 for past 8-9 month, no adware at all. version
10 is much better than the older version. Less cluttered, etc.Real
alternative has issues with real and wmv streaming format.
Otherwise, real alternative is very good.
\_ mplayer? |
| 2004/8/26-27 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33162 Activity:high |
8/26 I had to re-install a sibling's PC yesterday because of a failing HD.
Anyways, I installed Windows XP SP2, and there are a couple of neat
things. (1) After SP2, there were no critical updates to download,
and only three recommended updates (journal viewer, .NET, HighMAT).
(2) When using IE, you no longer get a dialog box asking if you
want an ActiveX control installed; instead, it renders the page without
loading it, and pops up a 1-line tooltip at the top of the browser
which you can click on to install the ActiveX control; then you can
reload the page.
\_ There's a Microsoft VM paatch already.
\_ I didn't have to download one last night; you might have a
different WinXP CD from the one I have.
(2) When using IE, you no longer get a dialog box asking if you
want an ActiveX control installed; instead, it renders the page without
loading it, and pops up a 1-line tooltip at the top of the browser
which you can click on to install the ActiveX control; then you can
reload the page.
\_ Also, wireless reception seems to somehow improve. Don't ask me
how. -John
\_ RIDE BIKE!
\_ WHY DO YOU HATE AMERICA?
\_ USE LINUX!
\_ TIRED JOKE!
\_ Use FireFux.
\_ NOT JOKE! YOU: NOT GETTING IT! NO. HUMOR. INTENDED.
\_ Use FireFox. |
| 2004/8/25-26 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33137 Activity:very high |
8/25 Is it possible to make a bootable DOS floppy in Win2K?
\_ http://bootdisk.com
\_ Thanks. -op
\_Yes. Right-click on the drive and follow the instructions.
\_ I don't think that makes a bootable floppy -op
\_ agreed
\_ It can on XP. It's been a while since I used 2K.
\_ It's been a while since I used floppies.
\_ Me too. I sure wish motherboard companies
would provide bootable iso images for
their BIOS updates. Floppies suck.
I made a bootable CD using the win95 boot
floppy image in order to flash my bios.
It worked. :) -op |
| 2004/8/24-25 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/Security] UID:33120 Activity:low |
8/24 Anyone has any suggestions to hack a Windows XP system if you have
physical access to the machine? Can one just boot from a USB drive and
start to read other files on the machine?
\_ Yes. Assuming the drive isn't encrypted, all you have to do is
boot to something that will let you mount/slave/etc the winxp drive.
\_ Lots of programs let you boot off of a floppy and reset the
Administrator password from there. |
| 2004/8/24-25 [Politics/Foreign/Asia/China, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33114 Activity:very high |
8/24 Before one moves to a foreign city (or another U.S. city for that
matter), is there a way to find out which neighborhoods are nice,
run down, safe, or dangerous if you don't know someone already
living there?
\_ Many county and municipal Law Enforcement departments publish crime
statistics in a variety of formats. Contra Costa has a clickable
map on its website.
http://www.cocosheriff.org/crime_statistics/crime_statistics.htm
http://www.cocosheriff.org/crime_statistics/crime_stat_maps/stats_clyde_un_concord.htm
http://tinyurl.com/4w668
\_ For inside the U.S., go to http://msn.com, click on Buy a House -> Compare
Cities.
\_ It's very odd in LA, it's hard to tell by looking sometimes.
-- ilyas
\_ Check the housing prices.
\_ Concur. It's not a 100% indicator when comparing downtown to
a suburb (the suburb may actually be nicer and cheaper, but
obviously farther) but it's a good start when comparing apples
to apples.
\_ Most of these methods operate on at most a per-zip code granularity.
So none of them work well when there is variety within a zip code.
In Sacramento, for example, conditions vary on an almost street-
by-street basis.
\_ And the houses on the better streets will cost more.
\_ Just look for those minorities around. If you see em, you know
it's a bad neighborhood. Man this is a boring motd entry.
\_ Most of the residents in the Sunset and Richmond districts in SF
are Chinese Americans. Neither district seem to be bad
neighborhood.
\_ The Chinese are not a minority. Just ask UC administration.
\_ Asians - the other white people! |
| 2004/8/19-20 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:33017 Activity:nil |
8/20 I am retarded and chose the wrong partition when reinstalling XP.
I see there are some inexpensive tools ($50) and insanely expensive
tools (small used car) that promise to recover files. I'd appreciate
hearing about your success/failures with any of these tools. --gabriel
\_ GetDataBack for NTFS is superb. On the other hand you may want
to consider booting a Knoppix CD, which has also worked for me.
There are various Linux boot floppies or even Windows-based
live-filesystem rescue disks (start at http://bootdisk.com) that will
bring you further. Alternately, if you have a friend who does
computer forensics (don't laugh) ask him if he has a copy of
Guidance EnCase you could borrow--this is pretty good, although
it doesn't stack up to GetDataBack for things like blown away
boot partitions, etc. Mail me if you have specific problems. -John |
| 2004/8/18 [Transportation/Car, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:32978 Activity:moderate |
8/18 Where is the coolest place in a car on a hot sunny day
among the following choices. I ask the same question assuming the
windows are closed, and then again if the windows are open enough
to let some breeze in:
a) trunk
b) under the driver's seat
c) glove compartment
d) in the little compartment between the 2 front seats
e) other
\_ on my bicycle riding away after smashing the windows out of
your infernal combustion engine monster.
\_ "internal", right?
\_ Humorless motd denizen
\_ By the vent with the A/C turned on.
\_ Less than 1-2 hours, the trunk, longer than that, one of the front
wheel wells
\_ But that's outside of the car.
\_ No, the place where your feet go.
\_ here's an idea: GET A FUCKING THERMOMETER
\_ Empirical testing--what a novel idea. Hey, when you do this let
the rest of us know.
\_ Yes, I'm sure variables like what kind of vehicle are unimportant. |
| 2004/8/18 [Computer/SW/Security, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:32977 Activity:low |
8/17 No free speech for fascists!
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,64602,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1
(Hackers plan to DOS Rebublican websites)
\_ Expecting ethical behavior from crackers is 'Sofa King, We Tod-Ed'
\_ Um, freedom of speech is a protection against government crackdown
on speech. |
| 2004/8/12-13 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:32867 Activity:moderate |
8/12 So anyone got SP2, any problems? Issues?
\_ I couldn't resist, installed it a couple days ago. I have a "volume
license key" (corporate) copy and changed my key as a precaution but
I haven't heard of any problems in that area. No problems. I
immediately shut off their new security center thing and their
firewall. I heard there may be some problem with Divx video.
\_ No issues. Installed it on Athlon 64 3200+ desktop with recent
WinXP install; then on WinXP notebook which hasn't gotten an
OS re-install in 2 years. The uninstall backup is required, and
will take ~ 450MB more wherever you save it.
will take ~ 450MB more wherever you save it. No product key issues
(and I would have one if there were something there).
After it installed, I did turn off the WinXP firewall.
\_ Is MS going to release something similar for Win2K?
\_ Unlikely. |
| 2004/8/10-11 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:32812 Activity:moderate |
8/10 What command line tool exist for windows to create an iso image
from a directory structure? or from a set of files specified
on the cmd line or a input file? thanks.
\_ mkisofs. oh wait, you said "command line tool ... windows"
\_ Uhm, cdr-tools (where mkisofs comes from) has been
ported to Windows for quite some time now. Just google
it (some german guys wrote this). Oh wait, you're a moron...
\_ I am a moron who doesn't use Windows.
\_ despite your deleting this there is still mkisofs for windows:
http://www.dimensional.com/~sitaram/CD-R-for-CLUEd-in-Windows-users.html
http://tinyurl.com/4vm69
\_ Try daemontools but I haven't tried it in a looong time.
\_ Daemon Tools mounts ISo images, not creates them, yes?
\_ Daemon Tools mounts ISO images, not creates them, yes?
\_ I really don't remember. Like I said its been a long time.
Maybe their site will point you to writing tools if they
don't have them. |
| 2004/8/9 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/Rants] UID:32794 Activity:nil |
8/9 http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2004-08-09-mic-onboard_x.htm \_ couldn't happen to a more ridiculous band. -tom http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/bizarre/2707648 What is it, stupid texans day? \_ my older brother's notebook was stolen out of his rental car trunk last week in San Antonio while he was having lunch. no broken windows, it just had an iffy trunk latch, and there was a high school nearby. he hadn't backed up in a year. oops!! (stupid californian day) |
| 2004/8/9 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:32783 Activity:high |
8/9 Funny. XP SP2 doesn't allow me to download the MS update ActiveX
control.
\_ I'd wait a week before installing SP2. Let someone else find all
the problems.
\_ Oh, I'm planning to wait 2 weeks before anything serious. This
was a test on a vmware machine.
\_ Good plan. Except if you don't install right away, that
delays when I can install it. :-)
\_ What's the point? They are not gonna change the sp2 binary.
\_ Unless they release sp2a. And I'm happy to let others
figure out the workarounds for MS stupidity rather than
tear my own hair out.
\_ The point, dear lad, is that if it turns out to be very
fucked like many MS patches in the not so distant past
then they *will* change the binary and the smart people
will download XP SP2-a while you're in tears wondering
how you'll get your system back from what XP SP2 did to it.
\_ The MIS dept at my work is warning people not to install it until
they've tested it against our environment.
\_ Mine has done the same. I wonder if we work for the same co. ;) |
| 2004/8/2-3 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:32637 Activity:very high |
8/2 I'd like to get a USB HDD enclosure and use it to backup data. What's
the best format for (1) reliability and (2) compatibility? I'd like
to use it store my music on and sync with my ipod, so it would have to
work with iTunes, but I wouldn't want to use NTFS because that's not
writable from FreeBSD. MSDOS might be a decent least-common-denom,
but that seems to waste a lot of space and have reliability problems
(fragmentation etc). Can windows mount/write a harddrive in the UFS
(CD) format? Am I overlooking a good format? tia.
\_ Thanks for the suggestions- I was somewhat against ext2 for
reliability concerns (unfounded?), and I guess I meant UDF
(I thought it was Universal File System...)
Do you happen to know if UDF (or iso9660) is modifiable at all?
Most of this stuff is going to be read heavy / write light,
so write performance isn't important. More important is each
OS being able to recognize a harddrive formatted to look like
a CD/DVD.
\_ IIRC, the problem with ISO9660 and UDF is that you need
to stick a fs image onto the drive. You can't add and
delete files later (well, mt. rainier can, but that
isn't widely supported outside of windows).
BTW, ext2 sux, but it is pretty much your only choice
if you want 255 char filenames and unix permissions.
If you are okay with 8.3 filenames, then msdos fs
might work for you, but I think that you will find that
the effective storage space on your drive will be much
smaller than with other file systems because of the way
that blocks are allocated.
Are you okay with using VPC/VMWare on your systems?
If so, you may be able to stick NTFS onto your drive
and then just use Windows running in the vm to access
your drive, share its contents. Then using smb mount
you can mount the drive under Linux/*BSD/MacOS X.
If you are willing to spend some cash you might want
to consider trying to go the hfs+ route. The following
urls might be of some help:
1) hfs+ kernel module for 2.4/2.6 linux kernel:
http://www.ardistech.com/hfsplus
2) Freebsd hfs+ kernel module (5.0 and newer):
http://people.freebsd.org/~yar/hfs
3) MacDisk for Windows:
http://www.macdisk.com/mden.php3
4) MacDrive for Windows:
http://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive5
I haven't used any of these before (I've used the
old hfs linux driver in 2.0/2.1 kernel under x86
and ppc linux, but not the current one), so I don't
know how well this will work.
\_ Try ext2. There are windows, freebsd and macos x drivers for
ext2. CD's don't use UFS (Unix File System, aka FFS), they use
ISO 9660 (w/ extensions). Perhaps you are thinking about UDF (DVD
format)? AFAIK, UDF isn't designed for rw access, so it would be
a bad idea for a hard drive.
\_ ext2 rw support for Windows is very bad. I would be very careful
about rw on ext2 under Windows if you want to keep your data
intact for any period of time. Unfortunately I can't offer a
good alternative that is cross platform because Windows support
for 3rd party drivers is just the shits. You can (again) thank
Mr. Gates for that one.
\_ ext2 rw support linux is very bad too but people use it.
\_ Ha-ha, very witty. Now why don't you STFU and let the
adults talk. By "very bad" I mean that you can expect
data corruption everytime you access the disk. No,
not sometimes, no, not once every ten times, but
EVERYTIME you write to ext2 from Windows.
Thank you for playing.
\_ You can expect data corruption from ext2 everytime you
use it as well. If you stopped playing with kiddie
boxes and put it in production, you'd find out real
fast what ext2 can do to data and you'd either learn
how to real fast how good your backups are or be
looking for a new job. Thank *you* for playing. I
enjoy 'winning' whatever that means on the motd. |
| 2004/8/2 [Computer/SW/Security, Computer/SW/Virus, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:32630 Activity:high |
8/3 I found this virus email fairly amusing:
"Dear user of http://soda.csua.berkeley.edu,
Your account was used to send a huge amount of unsolicited e-mail
during the last week. Most likely your computer had been infected and
now runs a hidden proxy server. We recommend you to follow our
instruction in order to keep your computer safe.
Best wishes,
http://soda.csua.berkeley.edu technical support team."
Included was the usual zipped executable file. Who falls for this?!
\_ yermom's got trojans
\_ Many people at my workplace did. Most non-engineers, and even some
young engineers who have never seen a DOS prompt, don't realize that
a file with a name "foo@bar.com" is an DOS/Windoze executable. |
| 2004/7/29 [Computer/SW/Security, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:32562 Activity:high |
7/29 If I use my own personal notebook at a company, airport, etc. or at
someone's house going through their networks, how
easy/hard/cheap/expensive for someone to monitor and capture my
passwords, URLs, IM messages, etc. if these are not encrypted nor going
through HTTPS and/or SSL? I have both Winblows 2000 and XP. I am just
wondering if it's possible for them to have some specialized routers
and such that can sniff my network traffic.
\_ if you don't encrypt end-to-end, it's completely trivial for anyone
in antenna range, or the antenna owner, to capture all your
traffic. -tom
\_ To that add 'anyone with accesss to an intermediate network'.
\_ Trivial? How would I do that?
\_ Google 'promiscuous mode' and 'packet sniffing'.
\_ Pi - ka - chuuu!!!1!
\_ Tamagotchi. Doraemon. |
| 2004/7/29-30 [Computer/SW/OS, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:32561 Activity:high |
7/29 Does increasing the swap file/partition size encourage the OS to swap
stuff out more? I'm asking for both WinXP and Linux.
\_ Are you trying to limit how much swapping your machine does? There
are a limited number of cases where more swap is a bad thing.
\_ I know more swap is better, but I'd rather stuff doesn't get
swapped until physical memory gets full.
\_ You don't seem to understand swapping.
\_ WHY?! You won't gain performance-wise, if that's what you
think. Run the machine without swap on and see.
\_ I *rarely* fill physical memory, but the OS insists on
swapping stuff out, which it just need to swap back in
later.
\_ So turn swap off. What the OS is doing is buffering
the pages.
\_ I guess we all have to learn the hard way.... |
| 2004/7/28 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:32528 Activity:kinda low |
7/28 Windows 64-bit version delayed:
http://news.com.com/2100-1016_3-5285913.html?tag=nefd.top
\_ It's been delayed umpteen times already. No one ever holds their
breath for a MS software release.
\_ They're behind schedule on inserting buffer overrun bugs. |
| 2004/7/22-23 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:32425 Activity:very high |
7/22 Is there any convenient way to upgrade (replace) my primary hard drive
in WindowsXP without having to go to the trouble of reinstalling my OS
and all my apps?
\_ Clone your disk.
\_ Does that work when the two drives are different sizes? The new
one is (obviously) larger.
\_ Yes. Afterwards you can even use something to
grow that partition. There are several utils that do this.
\_ Ghost works, at least. I used it to clone my notebook HD
(C: and D:) to a faster, bigger notebook HD -- no problems.
\_ Will that work for cloning ATA to a SATA drive?
\_ I haven't tried it, but I believe you just need Ghost
to "see" your SATA drive -- Ghost runs in DOS.
Also, if your drive is > ~ 128 GibiB, you will need
Ghost 2003 or later.
\_ I thought the XP activation crap checks your hardware
configuration, and refuses to run when it's different.
\_ The drive is only 1 of several things that it checks
for change. On a desktop system you are allowed to
have something like 5 different things change before
having to simply reregister your key with Microsoft.
I've done this sort of thing several times, and even
when I did finally have to reregister with them, it
happened instantly.
\_ Yes, but if you have the right program ...
In any case, legitimate users will only need to
re-activate their OS through an Internet or phone
connection (I think Internet works). I do have a
legitimate license, but I don't need the hassle.
re-activate their OS through the Internet (?) or by
phone call. I do have a legitimate license, but I
don't need the hassle. |
| 2004/7/21 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/OS] UID:32400 Activity:kinda low |
7/21 Web enabled update patent lawsuit:
http://tinyurl.com/64uh7 |
| 2004/7/20-21 [Computer/Companies/Apple, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:32381 Activity:nil |
7/20 Does ipod work with usb 1.1 at all? with the apple usb adapter?
\_ my 2nd gen ipod works with usb 1.1 under windows xp
\_ My battery won't recharge when connected to a 1.1 port. |
| 2004/7/17-18 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/Networking, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:32329 Activity:moderate |
7/16 I have to use a PS2 to USB adapter for my computer. I bought an
adapter, but everytime I boot it up, it doesn't work. I have to
plug and unplug to get it recognized by WinXP. Occassionally,
that method doesn't even work (the system says Unknown USB Device).
What is going on and how do you solve this problem?
\_ i had a similar problem with a 32-meg flash drive... turns
out the usb connector wasn't very good... things usually
improved when i wiggled the plug. are you on a laptop? i
usually have more trouble with laptop usb ports.
\_ PS/2 -> USB adapters vary wildly in quality. I just buy a USB
keyboard and mouse and be done with it, even though it takes up
all my USB ports on my notebook.
\_ You can get a little USB hub to expand total slot count. I got
a 4 port hub for $5. |
| 2004/7/8-9 [Computer/HW/Laptop, Computer/Networking, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:31217 Activity:high |
7/8 Anyone have recommendations for a CF or PCMCIA GPS unit for under
$200? I want to be able to connect an external antenna, and WAAS
would be nice (this is for a Linux/XP laptop.) I'm not too informed
about GPS--is there anything particular to watch out for in terms
of reception or standards? Should I bother with a USB or bluetooth
receiver? This is mainly for auto navigation and rooting out rogue
wireless APs. -John
\_ I got a bluetooth/standalone combo in the mail this week:
http://www.semsons.com/itwit2pic.html --darin
\_ Kewl, any good?
\_ Check http://www.gpspassion.com
\_ What is the cold/hot start time on these things? It used to be
MINUTES before it locked on any of the sattelites.
\_ It really depends on which one you get, but generally...
< 1 minute for cold and < 10 seconds for hot. |
| 2004/6/30-7/1 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:31090 Activity:moderate |
6/30 Eclipse 3.0 is out, lots of cool new features. Is there a way to
revert to the old W2k look? The XP tints look out of place.
\_ Nevermind: Preferences/Workbench/Appearance/Current Presentation:
set it to R21Presentation. |
| 2004/6/30 [Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/HW/Drives] UID:31088 Activity:high |
6/30 What's a good free ISO burner for XP? ok thx
\_ burn4free. http://download.burn4free.com Does just about
everything else you want from a burner as well, it's great.
\_ http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm
is free and doesn't include NavHelper. Same author wrote
CreateCD for command-line burning. |
| 2004/6/29-30 [Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:31066 Activity:moderate |
6/29 New trojan that steals passwd for banks:
http://tinyurl.com/29krl
\_ Infection is via .chm vulnerability, which is patched using
Windows Update (available since April?), unlike the other thing
from last week, which from last news reports was "defanged" by
closing a specific Russian URL but the underlying vulnerability
remains unpatched. (heck, I could write one serving from soda,
given the existing code sample I have)
\_ U K@n 0wn b0x-n?! UR2 K3\/\/L!@!@!11
\_ Does that affect Netscape on Windows as well? |
| 2004/6/29 [Computer/SW/WWW/Browsers, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:31063 Activity:insanely high |
6/29 If you have a girlfriend who does not know much about computers (I mean
basic things like what is a cockie, cache file, how to customize
IE and window etc.), do you teach her yourself or direct her to
some classes in community college or books?
\_ I'll teach her about cockie anytime.
\_ You tell her about the new trojans out for IE and install firefox.
\_ How much does she really want to learn? If she really does want to
learn stuff how good are you are teaching her without being
patronizing or impatient? -aspo
\_ If she wants to get a job with that knowledge, go to community
college. Otherwise I'd teach her myself.
\_ If there's something she wants to do, teach her. If she doesn't
care about doing task X, don't bother to force it on her. My GF
still uses IE. I grimace and say nothing.
\_ I am very good at teaching, and very patient. Is your girl hot?
\_ I am very good at teaching, and very patient. Is your GF hot? |
| 2004/6/25-26 [Computer/SW/Security, Computer/SW/OS/Windows, Computer/SW/OS/OsX] UID:31009 Activity:high |
6/24 Yay, IE6 vulnerability that affects fully patched systems, that
allows local machine access (downloading and running any .exe) on
previewing an e-mail or browsing a web site (including pop-up)!
System administrators rejoice!
http://csua.org/u/7xe
\_ IE on mac os x not affected, supposedly. :-)
\_ The payload is a Windows executable, but I wonder if the same
IE hole doesn't exist on Macs too...
\_ It's probably not as easy to execute arbitrary due to diff.
in underlying API. Also the mac division of MS is complete
separate and semi-autonomous/forgotten from the rest.
\_ But the report I read from the "Get the Facts" Roadshow said
that Microsoft is the fastest at fixing security holes!
\_ That's because their security holes are all the same. They just
keep on making the same mistakes over and over again. Besides,
how hard is it to fix a buffer overrun hole?
\_ Infect yourself! (with a "harmless" one)
http://62.131.86.111/security/idiots/repro/installer.htm
It overwrites C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe
and runs the new one, then restores it when it's done.
\_ Gee, this sounds like GREAT advice.
\_ Has no visible effect on safari.
\_ sploit only affects IE, and probably only on Windows. |
| 2004/6/24 [Science/Electric, Computer/SW/OS/Windows] UID:30988 Activity:very high |
6/24 Your body belongs to Bill Gates:
http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-5244766.html
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116655,00.asp
\_ All your skin are belong to us.
\_ "Since last year, Microsoft has been on a campaign to
generate more money from its intellectual property, and in
recent weeks the company has obtained patents for
double-clicking, XML-scripting methods and a system for
generating a to-do list from source code."
\_ Double-click? I guess they are more evil than Apple trying
to patent the GUI.
\_ I don't think it's evil for microsoft or apple to try to
patent stupid stuff; I think it's evil for the patent office
to let them get away with it.
\_ No. The rights to produce products that uses your skin as an
electrical conduit to power Windows powered wearable computing
devices belongs to Microsoft in certain parts of the world for
the next few years. But that isn't as exciting as claiming BG
owns your skin.
\_ I thought the agents in the Matrix already has this technology. |
| 11/26 |