Author Topic: Hardware/OS Geek Thread  (Read 53065 times)

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Offline PC

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #250: October 15, 2009, 12:41:15 AM »
I installed XP Home KN and I'm still not sure what is.  Media player was included as was messenger and when you click on Computer properties, it says Home Edition not Home Edition KN.

The iso for KN is the same as the iso for K and regular Home so it appears there's no difference between them.  You just get 30 keys, 10 for each.  The iso for the European edition (N) is different so that one might actually be a different version.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #251: October 15, 2009, 01:02:02 AM »
Can anyone confirm if you get MS Office keys with a technet sub?  About to commit if I know I can get office too.

Offline PC

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #252: October 15, 2009, 01:21:56 AM »
Can anyone confirm if you get MS Office keys with a technet sub?  About to commit if I know I can get office too.

You get many, many Office keys.  :P

Office XP Professional is a Static Activation which means you get one key for many activations.
Office 2000 Standard and Professional are also Static Activations
With Office 2007, you get 10 keys each for Professional, Professional Plus, Ultimate and Enterprise. :shock:

edited.....and you'll be getting 2010, probably the same one (or eqv, there is no Ultimate or Enterprise in 2010).  There's Standard, Home and Business and Home and Student.  You probably won't get Home and Student because you didn't get that version with 2007.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #253: October 15, 2009, 01:33:59 AM »
You get many, many Office keys.  :P

Office XP Professional is a Static Activation which means you get one key for many activations.
Office 2000 Standard and Professional are also Static Activations
With Office 2007, you get 10 keys each for Professional, Professional Plus, Ultimate and Enterprise. :shock:
...and you'll be getting 2010, probably the same one (or eqv, there is no Ultimate or Enterprise in 2010)
Sweet, thanks.  Whipping out the ole visa now!

Offline PC

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #254: October 15, 2009, 01:36:22 AM »
And it's not Office 2000, it's Office 2003.  Office 2000 isn't included.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #255: October 15, 2009, 01:40:41 AM »
And it's not Office 2000, it's Office 2003.  Office 2000 isn't included.
That's fine.  I just need at least one working version that includes Access. :lol:

Offline PC

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #256: October 15, 2009, 01:48:29 AM »
That's fine.  I just need at least one working version that includes Access. :lol:

You also, separately, get Access 2003 (Static Activation) and 10 keys for Access 2007 despite the fact that it's included with the Professional and higher versions of the Office 2003 and Office 2007!

Offline tomterp

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #257: October 18, 2009, 09:15:32 PM »
Does anybody have an experience with netbooks?  From what I can tell, they are like a somewhat stripped down version of a laptop.  My wife's been hinting that she'd like one, presumably to make it easier to hold bon-bon's in the other hand while she surfs?    :roll:     :?

I would assume most all computers come with wireless these days, but I don't even know that much about the netbook genre.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #258: October 18, 2009, 09:43:52 PM »
Does anybody have an experience with netbooks?  From what I can tell, they are like a somewhat stripped down version of a laptop.  My wife's been hinting that she'd like one, presumably to make it easier to hold bon-bon's in the other hand while she surfs?    :roll:     :?

I would assume most all computers come with wireless these days, but I don't even know that much about the netbook genre.
Yes, I thought I wanted one, just for surfing as a compliment to my desktop, but when I tried using one, that changed quick.  The screen is smaller than you (and she) may think.  Plus the keyboards are small and cramped not to mention the small trackpad.

The main plusses for a netbook are small size = portability if for some reason a "normal" 13" or 15" is too much to handle.  Also, they are fairly cheap at between ~$250 - $500.  With an extended battery, they also can last a while unplugged.

On the bad side, they are also underpowered.  Pretty much universal is a 1.6 GHz intel Atom N270 which is a single core chip.  They also lack an optical (CD or DVD) drive.

In my opinion, they have become a hyped "fashion" item that everyone wants because they think that it is a "cool" thing to have.  You're better off with a low end normal notebook in most cases in my mind.

Oh, and pretty much everything comes with wifi these days, and you can get netbooks even cheaper from VZW and AT&T if you sign a 2 year data contract and get built in cellular data card.

Offline NatsAddict

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #259: October 19, 2009, 09:17:57 AM »
Quote
New mobile phone service to permit visa downloads in Dubai
Innovation will ease service delivery in cost-effective manner
By Zaher Bitar, Staff Reporter, Gulf News
Published: 00:00 October 18, 2009


Dubai: A new mobile phone-enabled service that lets users download a visa is one of the latest innovations to be unveiled by the Dubai Naturalisation and Residency Department (DNRD) during Gitex 2009.

Director of DNRD's IT Project Management, First Lieutenant Khalid Bin Mediya Al Falasi, said: "This service is very helpful for everyone as they can check visa status, rules for new residency [visas] and transactions from anywhere using your own mobile.

"Nowadays [a] mobile [phone] is a close friend of everyone. It is the only thing that a majority of people keep... with them all the time. Moreover, 44 per cent of people are using mobile phones [to do] their banking transactions."

Thus the DNRD found that there was no better alternative other than for mobile phones to be a way to ease service delivery, he added. However, one must first register for this service with the DNRD.

"You can check your personal DNRD record, your visa status, fines and fees, through the Mobile Service and [be charged] Dh1 only each time you log-in," he said.

Mobile phones will soon be used by visitors to enter Dubai.

"With the M-visa, the orange-coloured physical copy of the entry permits will no longer be required," Al Falasi said.

"Through the M-visa, visitors, residents and guests residing in Dubai and abroad will receive instant notification via email and text messages upon issuance of their entry permits or visas of all types."

Access

When applying for entry permits either by visiting DNRD offices or using online applications at www.ednrd.ae, customers will be requested to choose the M-Visa option on the application and to make the necessary payment of Dh20 to give them access to the M-visa facilities, he said.

"When their visa is issued, the user will be notified through an email message [with] an original e-visa document, bearing the DNRD logo and signature of the director," he said.

The secure PDF file will prevent any tampering with the details of the visitor.

Earlier, most visitors had to present a copy of their entry permit at the airport and pick up the original version before going through immigration.

How M-visa works

- The DNRD has launched a new mobile M-Visa facility to offer its customers instant notification via email and text messages upon issuance of their entry permits for all visa types.

- Customers can apply for entry permits at www.ednrd.ae.

- When a visa is issued, customers will be notified though an email and/or sms message.

- The e-mail includes an original visa document (PDF format)

- The SMS will have a barcode and it can be sent to any destination around the world.

- The barcode scanner set up at DNRD checkpoints will read the details of the entry permit directly off the mobile devices of the visitors to facilitate easy entry into the country.
Gulf News (UAE)

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #260: October 19, 2009, 06:38:35 PM »
nice. GIMP is money :clap: :clap:

can't afford adobe photoshop and am sick of trying to full with keygens and that bs. GIMP does everything I need it to do. $1000 less than Photoshop.

Also downloaded Open Office and that works just as good as Office.

I am about to send my main computer back for repair so I am trying to set my other one up for use while that one is gone.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #261: October 19, 2009, 11:07:35 PM »
Paint.NET is also nice.  Probably not as sophisticated as GIMP or PS, but still very good, especially for simpler tasks.

Personally I would only use GIMP if I had no other choice and serious work to do.  Since neither of those is the case, I don't generally use it.  Even a lot of its supporters will readily admit it's no Photoshop.  I have used it in the past and it is very good for what it is, but "free" is definitely the most I would pay for it.

Offline UMDNats

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #262: October 19, 2009, 11:45:23 PM »
question:

im helping our webmaster with updating the website. im using coffee cup and just doing some simple stuff. when i pull up our homepage's .php file in notepad, the format is all weird and bunched up. when i open up other parts of our site, it's fine. any possible solutions or other text programs i can use to make it easier to update? i can do it with how it's currently formatted, but it'd be a lot easier if i could see it normally.

Offline Nathan

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #263: October 19, 2009, 11:48:10 PM »
question:

im helping our webmaster with updating the website. im using coffee cup and just doing some simple stuff. when i pull up our homepage's .php file in notepad, the format is all weird and bunched up. when i open up other parts of our site, it's fine. any possible solutions or other text programs i can use to make it easier to update? i can do it with how it's currently formatted, but it'd be a lot easier if i could see it normally.
Geany perhaps?

http://www.geany.org/Main/HomePage

Offline UMDNats

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Offline NatsAddict

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #265: October 20, 2009, 04:02:21 AM »
The Editor (as opposed to IDE) version of Komodo is free and you may want to take a look at it as well.  

http://www.activestate.com/komodo_edit/features/

One of the things I like best about Komodo is that in the call-checking, it also provides hints for user-defined functions/methods.  This is true both in the editor and ide.  So, if for example, you've linked in an external user-defined library, such as php or javascript or php, and you call one of those user-defined functions, it will prompt you for the function name as you type, and then as you enter each parameter.  When we converted all of our web apps to object oriented a few years ago, this feature alone made the transition quick and smooth, and undoubtedly saved literally thousands of man hours.  Also, being able to browse in a separate frame, tab, or both (user choice) without having to flip in an out of the editor to and from the browser is nice.

It also supports Ruby and other OO languages, and uses Firefox style extensions.

Available for Linux, OS X, and Windows

Offline The Chief

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #266: October 20, 2009, 09:24:48 AM »
I may be giving Komodo a look soon, NA.  Doing some PHP/JS/MySQL sidework for a friend of mine.

Offline JMW IV

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #267: October 22, 2009, 09:23:08 AM »
so I'm still thinking about the Laptop I want to get in the future.

I'm really thinking now, that I want just a pretty decent laptop (aka, not a total pile of crap) that is relatively inexpensive for the hardware itself. I'm looking for something in the 200-300 dollar range, which is why I am considering a Netbook.

I don't think I care much about the software, I'll go with more free/open source stuff.  I'm not a Corporate User, so I'm not sure why I should bother paying for a lot of software when there is plenty of free crap that will do the job just fine for me.

Still a little nervous about possibly switching to Linux. No Chrome for Linux, no Media Go (for my PSPgo when I get it) from what I can tell. I don't think I'll get a "gaming" laptop, so games don't really matter, as long as the computer is capable of running the latest version of Flash. never worked with any operating system other than Windows. also, I don't think my internet (Cricket Mobile Broadband) works with Linux either.

but most of my main applications are Web-based, so I shoul theoretically be good on that end.

Offline NatsAddict

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #268: October 22, 2009, 11:17:02 AM »
so I'm still thinking about the Laptop I want to get in the future.

I'm really thinking now, that I want just a pretty decent laptop (aka, not a total pile of crap) that is relatively inexpensive for the hardware itself. I'm looking for something in the 200-300 dollar range, which is why I am considering a Netbook.

I don't think I care much about the software, I'll go with more free/open source stuff.  I'm not a Corporate User, so I'm not sure why I should bother paying for a lot of software when there is plenty of free crap that will do the job just fine for me.

Still a little nervous about possibly switching to Linux. No Chrome for Linux, no Media Go (for my PSPgo when I get it) from what I can tell. I don't think I'll get a "gaming" laptop, so games don't really matter, as long as the computer is capable of running the latest version of Flash. never worked with any operating system other than Windows. also, I don't think my internet (Cricket Mobile Broadband) works with Linux either.

but most of my main applications are Web-based, so I shoul theoretically be good on that end.

Hmmm.  I guess I better quit running Chrome under Linux then.


Offline NatsAddict

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #269: October 22, 2009, 11:48:41 AM »
We've had better success with Verizon and AT&T wireless broadband installations on linux than with Windows, but I'm not personally familiar with Cricket.  While Cricket itself doesn't support linux, indeed linux supports Cricket.

This support forum shows how to setup Cricket in a previous version of Ubuntu.  There are no comments about current versions (a new release is coming a week from today), so it may be that they are now supported in the kernel as well.

As for Media Go, I am again not familiar.  But, if it is like most Sony software, it barely works under Windows.

Offline The Chief

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #270: October 22, 2009, 11:49:06 AM »
Not to bash on Linux, but any laptop you can find from today onward will come with Windows 7, which is great, and using Linux won't save you any money anyway if you're only planning to use free/OS apps, so why re-invent the wheel?

If you just want to try Linux, go for it, but the economic angle doesn't make sense to me given your stated intentions.

Offline sportsfan882

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #271: October 22, 2009, 12:14:58 PM »
Not to bash on Linux, but any laptop you can find from today onward will come with Windows 7, which is great, and using Linux won't save you any money anyway if you're only planning to use free/OS apps, so why re-invent the wheel?

If you just want to try Linux, go for it, but the economic angle doesn't make sense to me given your stated intentions.
Sounds like people are hyped for 7. They have done a decent job publicizing the release.

Offline JMW IV

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #272: October 22, 2009, 02:57:11 PM »
Hmmm.  I guess I better quit running Chrome under Linux then.



show off.

Offline JMW IV

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #273: October 22, 2009, 02:58:14 PM »
Sounds like people are hyped for 7. They have done a decent job publicizing the release.

people are hyped for 7 because it isn't Vista.

just like Obama wasn't Bush, and Riggleman wasn't Manny.

:stir:

Offline JMW IV

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Re: Hardware/OS Geek Thread
« Reply #274: October 22, 2009, 03:00:30 PM »
I got invites to an ass-kicking web-based Twitter Client called Brizzly if anyone is interested.