Re: [CGUYS] Consternation over Computer Constipation (including Mac's) - help!
On Sat, Dec 19, 2009 at 5:23 PM, db db...@att.net wrote: That's why I was making my sacrilegious critique of some of Apple's OS bad points that cause many people unnecessary difficulty. You had mentioned the OS X dock, usually located at the bottom of the screen, and how it is often activated accidentally while navigating open windows. In OS 9, there was, and still is, a little third-party application that launched at startup. It mimicked and looked like the OS X dock, and allowed the user to install application icons and launch those apps from there just as the OS X dock does. However, it provided for either an automatic opening of the dock whenever the mouse pointer hit the bottom of the screen, a la the OS X dock, or it provided for a non-automatic opening of the dock by having the user click on the bottom of the screen, or wherever the dock was placed, to activate it, thus avoiding unintended opening of the dock. It seems to me that Apple could do the same with their dock, and that would definitely be an improvement for those who want to use the dock, yet want to avoid activating it when it is not desired. Steve * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Consternation over Computer Constipation (including Mac's) - help!
t.piwowar wrote: On Dec 19, 2009, at 5:23 PM, db wrote: That's why I was making my sacrilegious critique of some of Apple's OS bad points that cause many people unnecessary difficulty. If the IT literate don't/ can't see the problem, it will never be fixed and the system remains unaccountable. Except you were not. At most you were arguing that you would have designed some things differently and insisting that any deviation from you desires was a defect. That just isn't so. We have a difference in opinion then... I did explain how there were perfectly valid, but different, methods that worked just fine. I even gave an example of something that really was a defect. Different methods can be equivalent. I just don't think that is so in this case. Not that the Mac Dock, Finder and Menu systems don't work. They do but in my opinion, they just don't work as well as they easily could at this point in the dev cycle. They particularly don't work as well as they should for newbies ... whose icons and menus and windows mysteriously seem to go poof ... and for people on the other extreme ... for users with many windows and projects going on simultaneously. The fact that Linux, which borrows heavily from both Mac and Win, chose not to emulate those aspects from Mac is ready testament to that in my opinion. db * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** * * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] XP Pro problems
Before even enabling any Internet connection, install Zone Alarm Free and set it to ask on everything. Then you can comfortably install whatever you really want at leisure without worrying about an external attack. Of course, if you have stateful packet inspection enabled on your router, you are pretty safe anyway. Fred Holmes At 11:48 PM 12/19/2009, John Duncan Yoyo wrote: It also allows me to not connect to the internet until I have a more current machine. I do wish M$ did roll ups every so often to allow quicker restores after the last SP. -- John Duncan Yoyo * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
[CGUYS] .Net Framework
Windows Update failed to install an automatic update to .net framework 2.0 with .net framework 3.5. A solution was to uninstall 2.0 and reinstall. That didn't work. I still have 1.1 installed. My question is. Do I need .net framework in any version on my computer: Window XP Media edition service pack 3. TIA * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] .Net Framework
Not unless you are running anything that needs .net. On Sun, Dec 20, 2009 at 1:15 PM, Clair Esch claire...@starpower.net wrote: Windows Update failed to install an automatic update to .net framework 2.0 with .net framework 3.5. A solution was to uninstall 2.0 and reinstall. That didn't work. I still have 1.1 installed. My question is. Do I need .net framework in any version on my computer: Window XP Media edition service pack 3. TIA * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** * * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Consternation over Computer Constipation (including Mac's) - help!
Quoting db db...@att.net: Not that the Mac Dock, Finder and Menu systems don't work. They do but in my opinion, they just don't work as well as they easily could at this point in the dev cycle. They particularly don't work as well as they should for newbies ... whose icons and menus and windows mysteriously seem to go poof ... and for people on the other extreme ... for users with many windows and projects going on simultaneously. Maybe I missed something, but I have no idea what you're talking about icons and menus and windows mysteriously seem to go poof. When you close a program, it's Dock icon *might* disappear. That happens when you don't have a short-cut icon parked there. * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] XP Pro problems
On Sun, Dec 20, 2009 at 11:10 AM, Fred Holmes f...@his.com wrote: Before even enabling any Internet connection, install Zone Alarm Free and set it to ask on everything. Then you can comfortably install whatever you really want at leisure without worrying about an external attack. Of course, if you have stateful packet inspection enabled on your router, you are pretty safe anyway. Zone alarm is too big a hog to use. The M$ firewall is sufficient for my purposes especially behind a NAT router. I would rather put a fairly up to date machine on the web to get the final windows updates. A pre sp2 XP machine is just too vulnerable. -- John Duncan Yoyo ---o) * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] XP Pro problems
If I do a reinstall for anyone, I usually make sure I am using as up to date an OS disk as possible. Then whatever updates need to be installed get installed. (I download them to a separate machine and load them onto the reinstalled machine.) When all that is done I make sure the Internet is functioning. Then I install a antivirus program. (Antivirus programs traditionally want an Internet connection to download updates.) Stewart At 04:55 PM 12/20/2009, you wrote: Zone alarm is too big a hog to use. The M$ firewall is sufficient for my purposes especially behind a NAT router. I would rather put a fairly up to date machine on the web to get the final windows updates. A pre sp2 XP machine is just too vulnerable. -- John Duncan Yoyo * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Windows registry nuisance
On Dec 20, 2009, at 12:12 AM, Tony B wrote: I agreed more in the early days when the registry was such a pita. But I see the reasoning behind it. Programs need a common area to communicate with each other. I dunno. Like I said, since WinXP the registry really hasn't been something that needs any attention. Programs DO NOT need a common area to communicate with each other. That is a silly M$ notion that makes Windows such a playground for malware. The connections between programs need to be as secure as they can be made. * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Consternation over Computer Constipation (including Mac's) - help!
On Dec 20, 2009, at 8:21 AM, phartz...@gmail.com wrote: You had mentioned the OS X dock, usually located at the bottom of the screen, and how it is often activated accidentally while navigating open windows. In OS 9, there was, and still is, a little third-party application that launched at startup. It mimicked and looked like the OS X dock, and allowed the user to install application icons and launch those apps from there just as the OS X dock does. Why not just check the check box that OS X provides to disable that function? Of course then there would be nothing to whine about! * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Consternation over Computer Constipation (including Mac's) - help!
On Dec 20, 2009, at 10:59 AM, db wrote: Not that the Mac Dock, Finder and Menu systems don't work. They do but in my opinion, they just don't work as well as they easily could at this point in the dev cycle. They particularly don't work as well as they should for newbies ... whose icons and menus and windows mysteriously seem to go poof ... and for people on the other extreme ... for users with many windows and projects going on simultaneously. There is nothing mysterious about poof. The way the Dock work is very easy to teach. One drags icons on. One drags icons off. One drags to move icons from one location to another. That's really simple. Why do you insist that it should be made complicated? And as I mentioned before, poof and other Dock changes can be disabled via a check box if you insist. If you want to whine about the Dock you should be whining about the unnecessary distinction that puts apps on the left side and other stuff on the right side. That is a useless and arbitrary distinction that new users find puzzling. Poof is not puzzling. * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Consternation over Computer Constipation (including Mac's) - help!
Yes... it's been a pretty long string. Only the Dock icons go poof but uninitiated Mac users have trouble figuring out why the menu bar has changed suddenly on them (poof!) ... and why sometimes there are icons on the dock for windows etc and sometimes there aren't (poof!). I was wondering if there were Dock add ons that anybody knew about to help with those finder and dock issues (to make them more intuitive and all encompassing... more similar to the Windows and Linux approach) and was also wondering why those issues still existed when Apple is otherwise usually very intuitive and untroublesome. But only a few saw any sense in what I was asking / saying... I got a whole lot of Mac indignation and we're too smart for such / how stupid are you to be wanting / asking for such. Not exactly an uplifting conversation for me db Reid Katan wrote: Quoting db db...@att.net: Not that the Mac Dock, Finder and Menu systems don't work. They do but in my opinion, they just don't work as well as they easily could at this point in the dev cycle. They particularly don't work as well as they should for newbies ... whose icons and menus and windows mysteriously seem to go poof ... and for people on the other extreme ... for users with many windows and projects going on simultaneously. Maybe I missed something, but I have no idea what you're talking about icons and menus and windows mysteriously seem to go poof. When you close a program, it's Dock icon *might* disappear. That happens when you don't have a short-cut icon parked there. * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** * * ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *
Re: [CGUYS] Physical vs. Virtual
Thank you all for various options and suggestions. This is sort of a
(long) summary of my tests. Hopefully, someone else may find this useful.
Option 1: Run 64-bit Ubuntu on the physical machine ...
I installed 64-bit Ubuntu 9.10, nVidia module for my video card on the
physical HW. Then installed VirtualBox-OSE and VMware Player. In each VM
software package, I created a virtual machine with 1024M memory and 40G
hard drive. Installed Win7 and the toolkit for each of the VM software.
Yup, the streaming video via IE sucked. Basically, I can see the large
pixels. Clearly, it is a display driver issue. For each of the Win7 VM,
the video card is a virtual one from VirtualBox or VMware. While it is
good enough for static apps, real-time video doesn't look good.
Another draw-back for my case: On ubuntu, the two monitors are in Twin
View config. I wasn't able to run a separate X instance for each
monitor. This made both screens a single desktop. Normally, this is a
good thing, but I like to make 4x4 virtual desktop. That means, when I
switch to another virtual desktop, my Win7 screen (sitting in the
second monitor in full-screen mode) goes away. Not a good thing.
In VMware player or VirtualBox, I wasn't able to find a way to directly
attach a video card to a VM (perhaps, I didn't look hard enough, but ...)
That means, even if I add another video card, I won't get good steaming
video output.
Option 2: Run 64-bit Windows 7 on the physical machine ...
Installed Win7 and nVidia driver on physical HW. Then installed VMware
player and Sun VirtualBox, in turn. In each VM software, I made a VM with
1024M memory and 20G disk and installed 64-bit Ubuntu 9.10, and installed
each VM software's toolkits. Each Ubuntu installation behaved exactly
like the one created previously on physical HW. So, running Ubuntu as a
VM gave no drawbacks. Running real-time steaming video via IE on Win7
gave much better results.
Drawback 1: Win7's power settings (I haven't played with them yet) puts
the machine to hibernation when inactive. That means my Ubuntu VM goes to
deep sleep also, disconnecting all my remote ssh sessions. I have to
think about if this minor inconvenience worth the power savings.
Drawback 2: Time gets messed up in the Ubuntu VM. If it gets more than 5
mins out of sync, my Kerberos ticket doesn't work. I'll play with NTP
and/or rdate.
Both Virtualbox and VMware also support some sort of direct integration
I haven't been able to figure this out yet. I'll keep looking. But, even
if I can, IE/steaming media as a direct app on Ubuntu won't give good
video, methinks.
Wine can run your IE video ...
In the Ubuntu on physical machine instance, I installed WINE. Then
installed IE 7 and IE 8. Both IE installations were a bit broken. I
wasn't able to get IE to run properly. I think IE is bit too tied to the
Windows OS. When IE ran, it lacked menus and the navigation bar, and the
static output looked quite bad. I decided not to spend too much time
trying to fix IE because even the static output wasn't up to par.
BTW, what is it about IE that is required? Is it a CaptiveX thing?
Silver Light, or whatever it's called, runs in Firefox.
Yes, it uses Silverlight and MMS/Windows Media Player for the steaming
video. Even on a Windows running on a Physical machine, if I run this via
Firefox, the video looks a bit worse than that of IE. I can't explain it.
I did install Mono/Moonlight (see this article in ARS Technica:
http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/12/moonlight-2-brings-silverlight-2-and-parts-of-3-to-linux.ars
) plugin for Ubuntu/Firefox. The website opened the plugin, but it only
displayed a big Loading ... text and nothing more. Yeah, MS proprietary
things never work seamlessly with open source alternatives.
MPlayer can play almost all videos ...
better luck using Xine to play DVDs on Linux ...
Yes, almost all. This particular site with Silverligt and MMS doesn't
seem to work in Linux. Playing DVDs in Linux is not an issue.
As for 64-bit, that might be wise in general, but if you're worried
about compatibility, you could use the 32-bit/PAE kernel.
Ubuntu is available in 32 or 64 bit images. And, all of their packages
are available via Synaptic Package Manager for both versions. I suppose,
I can roll my own kernel with PAE stuff, but that would be like bringing
work home. :-) At home, I just want to run a distro that just works.
you could have a pure Windows machine, with Putty for SSH and
Xming (http://www.straightrunning.com/XmingNotes/) for X display.
I've set-up Windows systems for other people with Putty + Kerberos for
Windows + {XWin32 or Cygwin}. (Kerberos, because on the server-side we
support GSSAPI credential passing, and use that to obtain another token to
mount a network filesystem.) That works. I've never tried Xming. I'll
give it a try another time. As for having a pure Windows machine, I'm
used to the Unix/Linux user interface
