General Computer Thread

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  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    PackRat was a personal information manager. An address book and calendar, more-or-less, something every email program gives you for free now. I'm reading a review of a later version where the going MSRP is $395. $395. And that's in 1992 dollars.
  • edited 2012-07-05 03:51:10
    THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    And then I skip ahead to the last issue of PC Mag in Google's library, and I realize that PC Mag has really had no reason to exist since about, oh, 2001 maybe. 

    The reason is that the PC is a commodity item now. Margins are so low that you either get a supermarket PC from Walmart or direct from HP or Dell, or you get a super-balls-to-the-wall boutique PC from a place like iBuyPower. There were several dozen vendors advertising in maybe a dozen magazines in 1992; now Maximum PC is really the only magazine left, and as for vendors? HP, Dell, Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba, Acer and Apple—just 7 big names. All the hole-in-the-wall companies that filled Computer Shopper and PC Mag are either out of business or building custom systems, so there's really no point in doing a ULTRA MEGA ROUNDUP when you're only going to be reviewing a dozen systems that were likely all built by Foxconn or Mitac anyway. :P

    Also, I notice the last issue of PC Mag even kind of looks like Maximum PC. Desperate attempt to stay relevant much?
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    I went ahead and closed all my Google Books tabs before I turned the lappy off. I figure that at this point, reading these old magazines probably isn't good for me, especially since it's headed into a period I associate strongly with my brother (the mid-1990s).
  • Lee if you don't mind me saying so (I'm really not trying to be a dick here), you seem a bit caught up in the past in general.
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    Lazuli: I get like that when I'm tired or obsessing. Sometimes memories of the past just won't leave me alone, even if I know I have it better now. 
  • You should eat your mattress.

    ...wait no.

  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    Well, I am trying to track down something in particular: A special advertising section introducing the PCI bus. It appeared sometimes in 1992 or 1993, but I can't remember exactly when.
  • Doctor Who reference in Pokemon B2W2? Headcanon accepted.
    Tell me if you run across any big reports on the VLB bus, obviously designed after seeing those old Miller Lite WHY NOT BOTH commercials
  • edited 2012-07-06 01:59:59
    THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    I'm currently slogging through its heyday at the moment. As well as watching Dell and Compaq, of all companies, stoop to trash-talking in their ads. Are they selling computers or playing kickball?

    Also, from October of 1993: One of the first flat-panel monitors. The panel is 10.4", 640×480, and it cost $8000. I just checked Newegg, and the cheapest flat-panel they have is a 15.6", 1366×768 widescreen for the amazingly low price of...$80. That's a hundred-fold difference for a much more capable monitor.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Hey Linux people: How well does Google Chrome (not Chromium) work in Ubuntu?

    I ask because Google's Chrome is up to version 20 and Ubuntu's Chromium (which I use now) is still on version 18...I was wondering if it would be worth switching over.
  • Doctor Who reference in Pokemon B2W2? Headcanon accepted.
    lee4hmz said:



    Also, from October of 1993: One of the first flat-panel monitors. The panel is 10.4", 640×480, and it cost $8000. I just checked Newegg, and the cheapest flat-panel they have is a 15.6", 1366×768 widescreen for the amazingly low price of...$80. That's a hundred-fold difference for a much more capable monitor.
    haahah and a 60:1 contrast ratio. Editing photos on that sucker had to have been a hoot
  • Hey Linux people: How well does Google Chrome (not Chromium) work in Ubuntu?


    I ask because Google's Chrome is up to version 20 and Ubuntu's Chromium (which I use now) is still on version 18...I was wondering if it would be worth switching over.
    I like it, m'self. Can't really tell the difference between it on Windows and on Ub, though Ub is a little more stable because lolWindows.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    How does the Flash plugin work for you? I tried Google's Chrome once before on here and Flash gave me pain, but that was a couple versions ago and I've reinstalled the OS since then...
  • I haven't had much straight-up Flash use, but Turntable.fm and YouTube work fine on it so I'm good for the most part.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Ah, okay. I had problems with YouTube videos and skipping audio and stuff, though I think I determined that was more of a problem with PulseAudio than with Flash anyway.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Haha, I forgot that Google-branded Chrome has a built-in PDF viewer! That'll actually be somewhat handy, considering I don't have one for my other browsers on Ubuntu!
  • Yes, not needing Adobe Reader is a nice bonus.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    ...For some reason Blip videos won't work in Chrome. They just throw up "Sorry, this video is temporarily unavailable." :(
  • Huh, that's odd, I'm using Chrome and Todd shows up fine after about a minute.

    What version you running? I have 19 at the moment.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    20. It was the "stable" one on Google's site...Xubuntu Precise, if that makes a difference.
  • Huh. Just upgraded to 20 and now Blip doesn't work.

    Hmm. Hopefully they'll fix that soon.
  • edited 2012-07-10 21:59:05

    With all the games I've bought on Steam recently, my Windows partition is running out of space very quickly. I can free up about a hundred gigabytes of space by deleting the Ubuntu partition that I never actually use anyway, but I'm afraid I'll completely wreck the boot sector if I just expand the Windows partition over the Linux partition. Do you guys know how I can do this properly & safely?
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    Oh hey, Chrome update and now Blip works again. Yay!
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    So I tried Irssi earlier.

    Couldn't make heads or tails of it, really. I'll stick with my Pidgin for now, even if it feels like taking the sissy way out.
  • edited 2012-07-13 17:19:57

    Okay, found a guide that told me how to restore the Windows MBR. Didn't do it properly last night, though, and I couldn't get it to work right until this morning — I was scared I'd be without this thing all weekend. (Not too scared, though, since I'll be spending most of today at SMASH! anyway.)
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    I just tried reading Phoronix. While the articles are interesting, the comments are just as bad as Slashdot. "OH NOES TEH MIRCOSOFT STOAL MAH MEGAHURTZ!"
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    HEY GUYS

    What's the best app for playing DVDs in Ubuntu?
  • VLC, at least in my experience.
  • READ MY CROSS SHIPPING-FANFICTION, DAMMIT!

    i get so angry sometimes i just punch plankton --Klinotaxis
    VLC is pretty damn awesome at anything...provided "anything" equates to playing media files.
  • VLC is the Swiss Army Knife of media players.

    And goddamnit I wish it were on iOS.
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    That's what I figured. VLC is the best of the few I've tried so far, but it seems to have this irritating glitch that cuts off the last second or so of some DVD chapters.

    Now I'll never know who the day was saved thanks to! ;_;
  • Let me give you a hint.












    It's the green monkey.
  • VLC really is the only media player you should ever need, if you don't mind a little bloat caused by the streaming server and other stuff you'll most likely never use. Version 1 wasn't quite my favourite for various reasons, but version 2 has more than made up for all of them.

    That said, if you need something you can run on really low-end hardware such as a Furby, you're definitely better off going with MPlayer or MPlayer2 instead.
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    There was a time when anime snobs insisted that VLC was awful and that you were a fool for not using Media Player Classic and CCCP like everyone else, but then, that was also several years ago, and I'm pretty sure the issue that led to all the snobbery (it was subtitle-related) has long since been fixed or gotten around.
  • There was a time when anime snobs
    image
  • You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
    VLC is 90% close to being the only player I'll ever need; literally my only complaint with it is this cutting-off-DVD-chapters thing.

    If anyone knows how I could fix that, I'm golden.
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    FM: It was apparently such serious business at one point that I remember one person on TVT telling someone who said they used VLC to kill themselves. Then again, I'm pretty sure it was one of the two or three resident /a/ssholes that couldn't quite get it though their head that chanspeak doesn't work too well outside of 4chan.
  • edited 2012-08-12 14:40:52

    lee4hmz said:

    FM: It was apparently such serious business at one point that I remember one person on TVT telling someone who said they used VLC to kill themselves. Then again, I'm pretty sure it was one of the two or three resident /a/ssholes that couldn't quite get it though their head that chanspeak doesn't work too well outside of 4chan.

    image


    Honestly, how can people be so completely pathetic.
  • THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    Well, considering 4chan is involved, I'm sure that has some bearing on things. While /b/ may be disturbing and just plain weird, some of the other boards have loudmouthed morons that make YouTube commenters look like Pulitzer Prize winners.
  • Honestly, how can people be so completely pathetic.

    It's /a/.

    These are the same people that constantly try to get Toonami streams and fanstreams shut down because Toonami fans aren't "real anime fans". 

  • Who the fuck would want to be a real anime fan?


    I guess they would.
  • Any time "real X fan" is brought up, you are almost certainly dealing with crazy people.

    Good rule of thumb.

    And of course these are people who define real anime fan as someone whose favorite shows are generic harem shit, and who doesn't watch dubs because they are an affront to glorious Nippon.

    Yes, I mad.

  • Doctor Who reference in Pokemon B2W2? Headcanon accepted.
    The last time I heard people crying about how just HORRIBLE VLC was, it was due to the subtitles. Something about colors for them being a tad off. Somehow. LOOK I CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE OKAY 

    For the longest time the only TRUE and HONEST way to watch you shitty anime fansubs full of misspellings and shout-outs was to:

    1. Download, install MPC

    2. Hunt down CCCP, Defilerpak, what-the-fuck-ever

    3. Install those plugins, hope they work the first time (ha ha you stupid fuck, they won't)

    4. get help on /a/ or some other fucking forum where you have to simultaneously filter through idiots posting noise and fucking sperglords angry that you're watching a show they don't approve of

    5. uninstall/reinstall, return to step 3

    6. maybe it starts to work, enjoy your anime

    And you know what really gets me? For the longest time, these fucking idiots were insisting you go about all this shit to watch an anime when it's the late aughties. I could understand having to do this shit 10 years before; but somehow it's too much to expect an all-in-one video player that works right out of the package. The complaints that they do have against VLC are shit that nobody in their right mind cares about.  Anyway, I've been told that MPC finally has their shit together and now it's supposed to be as simple as that but I'm not going waste my time finding out when VLC works perfectly fine. 
  • enjoy your anime
    IT IS ART. ART IS SOMETHING TO BE EXPERIENCED, NOT "ENJOYED" YOU PHILISTINE.
  • LOL stereotyping.

    Unless you're making fun of /a/ again in which case it's pretty accurate.

  • I've learned to tolerate drama...except on the boat
    My only problem with VLC is its lack of smoothness; in motion, there tend to be these lines on the picture. It grates on me because my main use for it is taking screenshots.
  • edited 2012-08-13 07:28:54
    THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    Yeah, I got over the "generic harem shit" thing pretty quickly. The only harem anime I even kind of liked was Love Hina, and that's mainly because I liked Naru. This was also about, oh, ten years ago...
  • Love Hina and the original Tenchi Muyo are the only good harem shows, and its telling that they're both more than ten years old.

    Note that this is because they had elements other than "dude has many girlfriends to choose from"

  • edited 2012-08-13 20:37:05
    THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS
    I also remember hearing Ai Yori Aoshi getting some praise, but then, it was less a harem anime and more "newlyweds end up with an accidental family and Wackiness Ensues. See also: Pretty much every family sitcom ever."

    Getting back on topic a bit, I'm reading through old PC Mags still, and I ffind it amusing that the state of the art in portable hard drives in mid-1994 was the 131 MB PCMCIA hard drive. I don't think I knew anyone that ever had one.
  • Doctor Who reference in Pokemon B2W2? Headcanon accepted.
    Why did RAM cost so damn much back in the day? When I upgraded my P75 from 8MB to 16MB it cost me damn near $300 for the two SIMM chips and that was lucky for me because that shit was on sale
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