HardwareLogic - Blogs

Family AND friends,matter.

oldman_gamer — Mon, 12 May 2008 03:47:04 GMT

Well here we are,all sittin pretty,while there are some who are in dire need.I need to vent a wee bit,so I "figgered" i'd vent here....but a good,heart fealt vent,if you will.

I would first like to say,that this is the most unique site I have ever been on.You have your missfits on every site im sure....WE, have Screwball! :thefinger: . HEHE j/k

It has been the most joyous ride with everyone here at Hardwarelogic,and I plan on planting my butt here for some time.This is the most helpful site,(as far as pc ,building,and internet etc) is concerned,that anyone could ever,stumble upon.That's what I did too....I stumbled upon it. Best "trip" I ever had.

The boss man, you can not find a better good hearted person than him.His name is Rich...for a reason.He is "rich" in personallity,wealth of knowledge,charisma,loyalty and the never ending dedication to truth and validity to Hardwarelogic's main function.

Ahhh....the names in GREEN.
Those green names.....they are the constant,never ending backbone of the site that never strays,stays on course,and points the less informed,in the distinc proper direction that is non judgemental,well knowledged and precise.They are the proud,devoted members who give much of thier personal time to this wonderful site.

We have the names in "GOLD" that have paid the dues to help this site carry on as well (some just want the colored name and to see the "member" area) :laugh: we know who you are. These paying gold members are the lifeblood of this forum.Some have no clue how a pc works......(such as myself)...and others,have exact,precise knowledge of the whole internet and how a pc works,rite down to the very grit of all the internet.

We also have the "white" names......those are "usually" those who have dire need of help with a problem.Some may be simple,some complicted.Some people,just can not afford a memebership and some just do not need a membership.All is good.The Boss man I spoke of before,he would appreciate it,but not manditory....thing is,you'll recieve the same help as anyone here.Color dosn't dictate the help you so richly recieve here....that's special in my book.

I should also mention,that when someone or a family thereof is in need......the prayers and thoughts of the people in this forum,whether they just met you or not,are with you from the heart.That means something to me,and that's a good thing,in my book.

I'm done ramblin for now and hope that I made some kind of sence in all of it.For computer people young and old,knowledged or novice,if you are reading this....then your search is complete.

TV tuner woes and rant

polobunny — Sat, 10 May 2008 03:19:23 GMT

Ah damnit I'm in a pissy mood. TV tuner works fine in my other computer, just not in the one I want to use it. :banghead:

I've tried changing video card (Nvidia to ATI), didn't do it.
I tried removing my Creative X-Fi, didn't do it.
I tried changing PCIe 1x ports, didn't do it.
I tried XP 32bit instead of Vista 64bit, didn't do it.
I tried around 5 drivers for the TV tuner, didn't do it.

This is really becoming a hardware issue... The problem I experience with the TV tuner is that it will freeze once in a while, it can be 5 minutes or 15. Sometimes there's static in the sound, and the image has some weird feeling, a bit as if it wasn't updated quickly enough to display. Then it will come back to normal, and that all in 5 minutes.
Now at first I believed it was the tuner, but since it works in my other computer... Then again maybe it's a compatibility issue, but that just sounds strange.
So over the course of the weekend I think I'm gonna take my empty 250GB and install XP on it. Bare install, don't install all the drivers and crap. Just video driver, TV tuner driver and that's it and see how it goes.

If it still f**** up, then I will try the second PCI-e 16x on the P5K-E.
And if it keeps going on, then I guess there's good chances it's something about the motherboard. -_-

FisherPrice kids camera

screwballl — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:41:31 GMT

I know I will probably get laughed at for this but who cares. I was playing around with my daughters camera that she got for Christmas and realized just how far our technology has come.

Fisher-Price digital camera, v2.1

Nowadays we have pretty much everything that is available for adults in some sort of kid-sized equivalent. Battery powered cars (Power wheels), fake cell phones, real cell phones, kids friendly computers, you name it and someone has likely made a kids equivalent of it aside from a dumbed down re-write of War and Peace.
Today I take a look at the Fisher-Price digital camera for kids. The outside has a stiff rubber grip for the sides and hard plastic along the sides and bottom. The batteries are 2 per side, so 4xAA batteries. It is about as kid friendly as you can get. It has a 1.3" square LCD in the middle of the back to review pictures. Push the blue power button to turn it on, they push one button on the front to take a picture, there is left and right arrow buttons on the back to review pictures, and then a red delete button opposite the LCD of the power button. A double press of the delete button deletes the picture seen in the LCD.

The camera includes 8MB of internal memory, not sure if it is flash but it does have a slot under the battery cover that allows use of a standard SD flash card if you need more memory. It also has a screwed in battery slot for a CR2032 battery which I assume is for long term storage of the camera so that the pictures inside are not lost.
The standard pictures are 640x480 (about 0.3 Megapixel), but the high resolution does take some nice shots. Push 3 buttons at the same time (the 2 red < and > arrow buttons and the red/pink button on the front that takes the picture itself) and it switches into high resolution mode. You can tell it is enabled by a small checkerboard icon on the LCD. The HR mode takes pictures at 1280x960 (1.2 Megapixel) and allows for about 25 pictures on the internal memory. Using the regular low resolution allows for up to 60 pictures to be taken.
I have a daughter that is 5 (going on 30 it seems) and when she is playing around with it, I keep it in low resolution mode. If we go out or have company where some pictures may be worthwhile, I switch it to high resolution and she has had a great time with it. The higher resolution pictures print out well on a photo printer at 4"x6" or smaller.
Battery life is surprisingly quite good, if it is barely used, I have had batteries last several months. If it is heavily used then they last 2-3 weeks.
This is a great camera for kids under the age of 8 and is virtually indestructible except for water damage. If they use it a lot, just make sure you buy some rechargeable Ni-MH AAs as a busy kid will eat through batteries every few weeks.

Below are some direct links to pictures since they are larger than HL rules allow, all of these are original size that the camera took in low resolution mode. All pictures linked here were taken by my daughter at some point over the past 2 months.

640x480 default mode
LINK 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5
Link 6
Link 7
Link 8

1280x960 mode
Link 9
Link 10
Link 11
Link 12

Time to get polobunny a new camera and a SD memory card! :laugh:

Shopping Polygamously

One4yu2c — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:47:21 GMT

When you piece together a new system, do you buy all your components from a single vendor? Do you tweak your Newegg wish list until you're ready to hit the 'submit order' button? Maybe you've hopped on the ClubIT bandwagon, or perhaps you shop exclusively at any other popular e-tailer (ZipZoomFly, MWave, etc). If so, you're a tech monogamist. And just as in real-life relationships, monogamy isn't a bad thing. There's a definite convenience and organizational benefit that comes from having a single invoice, and there may even be unexpected perks from sticking with a single vendor, such as 'thank you' gifts or personalized customer service. But I'm here to tempt you to cheat.

That's right - I'm advocating online polygamy. Or at the very least, I'm urging you to consider it. You already know the benefits of remaining faithful, but if, like many, it's the bottom dollar that matters most, you need to expand your online shopping portfolio. Here's how you do it:

Rev Your Search Engine!

One way to nail down the lowest price on any given component is to manually look it up on several different sites, making sure to factor in shipping costs and, if applicable, state taxes. But there's a far more efficient way, and that entails low price search engines. Much like Google scours the web for whatever term you're researching, tech oriented search engines zip through various e-tailers and present updated pricing info.

Low price search engines rely on information provided by participating vendors, and most do a good job at displaying current prices. This isn't always the case, and if you're into the mail-in-rebate game, you may want to visit any trusted vendors anyway, as this information isn't always present. And because no search engine includes every single vendor, it's a good idea to use more than one search; specifically, give this one-two punch a whirl the next time you're shopping for a component:

PriceWatch
PriceGrabber

Get a Second Opinion

Find an uber low price on that swank case you've been coveting? Don't hit the order button just yet! Crooks and unscrupulous vendors abound, and that too-good-to-be-true price could very well turn out to be, well, too good to be true. Do your homework before buying from an e-tailer for the first time. ResellerRatings lets customers (such as yourself) rate vendors based on their experiencew, as well as post a mini-review of the ordeal, good or bad. Other handy resources include BizRate's online store ratings, Epinions, and the Better Business Bureau.

Deals and Coupon Codes and Specials, Oh My!

So you've found a killer low price from a reputable vendor, and now it's time to order, right? Wrong! If you truly want to reach Jedi-shopper status, you need to utilize a deal site, my favorite being TechBargains. The better deal sites are updated throughout the day, and whether you check frequently or only once in awhile, it's only a matter of time before you score a great deal. Need an example? Don't tell my PC brethren, but I recently picked up an Xbox 360 gaming console, and because I want to beat up others online in NBA Live 08 and Madden 08, I set search for an Xbox Live Gold subscription. These typically run $50/year at most retailers, but TechBargains linked a deal selling it for $38.75. Coupled with a $10 credit for a new Google Checkout account, the final tally came to $28.75, or almost half the retail cost.

And because these sites focus almost exclusively on the web's hottest deals, experiences like the above tend to be the norm and not the exception. Deal sites also keep a log of current coupon codes, so be sure to drop by before placing your order.

Cliff Notes Summary

1) Search multiple vendors for the lowest shipped price
2) Research potential vendors before ordering
3) Take a jaunt to TechBargains
4) Buy a yacht with the money you saved!

Enthusiast Explained

RAID — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 08:44:23 GMT

en*thu*si*ast [en-thoo-zee-ast]
-noun
1. One who is ardently absorbed in an interest or pursuit
2. A fanatic

As I take a glance at my computer with its LED's, advanced cooling system and hand picked components, I can't help but wonder what type of person I've become and how exactly I got here. There was a time not long ago that I paid little attention to computers. I used them at work for a few small tasks and would check my email from time to time but I really could care less what was inside the case. My gaming was limited to the Playstation. The only game I would play on the the PC was minesweeper (and I was pretty good at it). Now the only console I own is the Wii which I only play about once a week with my family. The rest of the time I spend sitting right here usually playing Supreme Commander or World in Conflict.

My interest in computers grew over a short time period. I would read magazines or online reviews with great care. As soon as MaximumPC hit my mailbox, I would absorb its contents in one sitting. My jaw would drop at some of the custom built rigs I came across and I craved more information on every aspect of computing hardware. It became my main hobby but I had to play catch up. There was so much to learn.

The first computer I ever bought for myself was a Gateway. I remember opening up the case for the first time and following the cables to see where all the cables started and ended. I had it for about a year before the videocard went bad and I had to replace it which was a big deal for me at the time. After I took the old one out and put the new one in, the display looked normal again and my games ran a lot smoother. Cool.

After another couple of years, I decided it was time to build my own computer. After lots of research I ended up with a decent set up and I was happy with the results. Intel P4 on an Asus mobo, Corsair memory sticks and an X800XL video card. I was hooked. Shortly after building it, I upgraded my CPU cooling, added some case fans with a controller. Man, this stuff is pretty neat.

Soon I got my feet wet in overclocking. I had that 3.2 chip blazing at 4.2GHz in no time. I remember the chills that went down my back as it completed the benchmark. There was so much cool stuff to do with a computer and it slowly but surely took over as my main interest with each passing day.

Here I am now with two high end water cooling loops sitting on top of an Extreme series chip and an 8800 Ultra, staring at a giant 27" monitor with sounds bumping out of a 500 watt speaker system. My hobby has become a passion and is starting to define me as a person. I can't wait for new technology to arrive and quickly devour online reviews on a daily basis. I've spent countless hours pushing my parts to the limit and fine tuning my rig to run at optimum levels. Does any one of these things make me an "enthusiast"? I don't think so. But put them all together and I think I could make an argument for it.

Call of Duty 4: My Favorite Kits and Tactics!

XoRn — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 05:17:37 GMT

By now most of you know that COD4 has quickly become one of the most popular multiplayer games out. For Xfire users it is second in the list for most played game, losing out only to Blizzards MMO monster World of Warcraft. Having played the game since launch, and played Call of Duty 2 since its launch as well, I've had a fair bit of experience in the realm of COD online. Here I will be showing off some of my favorite kits (Custom Classes) to use in certain game modes and why they work. Generally I don't make a kit just because it reflects how I like to play. In stead I make a kit that forces me to play a certain way to achieve victory.

Kit Name: Ghost
Description: This kit delivers silent death at all times. At no point will you EVER appear on the enemy radar, or even be heard but more then a whisper.
Variations: For the most accuracy and range the M14 Silenced is the desired weapon. The P90 Silenced offers the best CQC possibility and the G36C Silenced is an excellent middle ground weapon. The M4 Silenced and AK47 Silenced also work reasonably well.
Use: This kit is most useful in team based Hardcore matches. UAV Jammer and Dead Silence will make you the ultimate ghost flanker and you should take careful consideration when maneuvering around the map. Remember that when the enemies UAV is up to distance yourself from friendlies and you will catch anyone trying to flank you off guard.
You'll know you love it when: You catch 3 enemies on their flank, the hit confirmation sound is louder then your gun and all they can do is panic while you drop each one with 1 bullet.
Weak against: Snipers and Helicopters. Snipers often try to take up long fire lanes which are often on the flanks of maps where you may need to run. Because of your reduced range they can be difficult to kill.

Kit Name: Camper Killer
Description: Campers can be annoying. Hiding off behind some barrel, picking off spawn points, never giving anyone a chance to get out of the gate. This kit is made specifically to make them whine until they are forced to use actual tactics in game.
Variations: I've tested all three Light Machine Guns and find the M60 to be the best for this particular Kits main objective. It's high damage and low fire rate ensures you won't be chewing through ammo to quickly leaving you dry in the middle of a fire fight, and the Desert Eagle provides sufficient stopping power and penetration in the case that you do run out. The 3X Special Grenade perk can be swapped with Bomb Squad to further detriment a campers position (especially if they use C4).
Use: Free For All matches of any type. Their are always campers about no matter what game type but FFA games are particularly notorious for attracting them. Simply put a few bullets into any camping spot you know of as you run through the map and you'll kill them, if not then severally hurt them and their main advantage of being hidden will be lost.
You'll know you love it when: You start getting kills on campers who never have a chance, turning their own tactic into a major disadvantage. Whats further devastating is you have the fire power to shoot down their precious helicopters in no time.
Weak against: Long range targets. The M60 jumps a lot when fired. Your best chance is to fire single shots and aim for the head to reduce recoil.

Kit Name: Spearhead
Description: At the front of ever battle, the Spearhead pushes through and breaks the enemy's position. They are the first line of defense and offense.
Variations: Of all the variations I've tried, I feel that this kit is just about perfect for its role. Still, you can swap out the 3X Special Grenades with the 3X Frag Grenades or Bandolier (you only have 150 rounds to start with). The only exception being FFA matches where you can trade out Extreme Conditioning for Steady Aim to increase your hip fire accuracy.
Use: This kit works all around in just about any match, Hardcore or not. Where it shines best is Team Death Matches and Headquarter matches when you team needs a heavy push in one direction. Extreme Conditioning ensures you will get to the front line fast and Juggernaut makes sure you stay their. The goal of this kit is to punch a hole right in the enemies front, occupy it, and blast everything that moves. During Headquarter Matches, rush the HQ and level everyone in your path. Juggernaut will make you less vulnerable to sniper fire and liberal use of grenades can hold off the opposing front while you capture the HQ.
You'll know you love it when: You annihilate the entire opposing team with health to spare.
Weak against: This class is fairly balanced so your biggest threat really is another Spearheader. The advantage often time comes down to who gets the jump on who and where. Larger open maps can be harder to play (IE Overgrown, Bloc [but not HQ on Bloc] and Crossfire).

Kit Name: The Specialist
Description: When a strong defense is needed The Specialist kit provides.
Variations: This kit can vary greatly with its primary and secondary gun. What's important is it includes a fully automatic Assault Rifle, and a Sniper Rifle. The first perk can either be Bandolier or 2X RPGs.
Use: The Specialist works well in any team objective game where a strong defense is needed (Headquarters, Domination, Search and Destroy, and Sabotage). This kit is used to hang back and watch from a distance and pick off targets rather then get into a direct confrontation. When everyone in the immediate vicinity of an objective is killed or our for the match, survivability is often solely placed on this kits user. By hanging back and taking targets selectively The Specialist should end up racking up the kills quickly, calling in air strikes and helicopters more then anyone else, and providing information for other teammates on enemy locations. Deep Penetration allows what ever gun that is chosen to be more effective against enemies who try to prone or hide behind walls.
You'll know you love it when: You have a 25 man killing streak and your team is dominating the match.
Weak against: Sub-Machine Gun users. It's often wise to have a Ghost kit player accompany the Specialist and defend his flank.

XP SP3 fails to impress

screwballl — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:19:58 GMT

Microsoft has publicly released the beta version of XP SP3 RC1 (v3264, kb936929) which is a 336MB download available at Microsoft's website as a standalone download. They have also released the RC2 version for a limited time (v3311) as a registry patch that enables it through Windows Updates rather then a standalone download.

Installing it took ages, much much longer than it should have on both systems, it seems that there are certain windows files that are in use that it has to remember to replace with newer versions after it restarts and also the registry scanning. This process may go faster on newer systems but for both of the test systems, it was dog slow.

After installing RC1 on 2 older systems, namely a Pentium4 1.8GHz (XP Home) and AthlonXP 2600+ (XP Pro) systems, I did some digging for program incompatibilities, some indication of performance increase or anything noticeable. After working with it for 2 days now, both do seem to run a tiny bit faster (I would think 10% or less) but not really able to notice a difference with real world usage. The security programs work the same without a hitch, Skype works the same as does everything else so it appears as if there is no real world benefit other then placing all previously released patches into one big service pack. There may some other minor things that I have not seen yet but so far nothing stands out.

Looking around on the MS TechNet forums for SP3, there does not seem to be any specific trends that stand out. Pretty much everything there seems to pertain to user error of some sort whether they didn't disable their security software or something else they did messed it up, it is all pretty much related to that. The only threads that seem to be of concern are a few mentions of Windows Update being broken after uninstalling the beta Service Pack.

For most people, my suggestion is wait until the final release goes public and then wait a month or two before jumping in. Only those still using SP1 or original versions of XP should upgrade to SP3 as soon as it is publicly available. So if your mother in laws bridge partners sisters uncles computer is still running XP version 2002, be a nice kid and run over there with the standalone SP3 once released and help reduce the botnet that has plagued this world. Every single patched system helps speed up the internet tiny bits at a time, so when you get the chance, help out, even if it takes 2 hours of your free time, help out those who need help. Or even setup a few signs saying "free windows upgrades" to pique some interest and give people a burned CD with standalone SP3.

It is amazing the number of people on dialup not willing to update and the lack of updates once they do go to high speed, continue the lack of updating and their computer becomes part of a botnet.

Benchmarking & Our Reviews

Capper — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 12:07:25 GMT

We have our benchmarking philosophy pretty well laid out on the main page, but sometimes people still ask about our benchmarking selections and test set up. I'm of the firm opinion that benchmarking is really a small overall part of any review. Before you flame me completely, stop and think about it......Take a system and run a benchmark ten times......and you'll usually get 8-10 different results with that same system....with the same settings.

We use several different benchmarks in our articles....First and foremost, I only look at benchmarking for stability......by using stability applications like Orthos, CCCT, Super Pi, and our RST Pro II Memory tester we can guarantee that the results we achieve are 100% stable. Second, by offering so many different benchmarks, we allow the reader to choose what they feel is important.

As important as benchmarks are to choosing a piece of hardware, the reviewers subjective opinion, and our scoring system is the base of all of our reviews. We've never made a stink of it.....but all of our reviews are based as much on the reviewers personal experience as the benchmarks.

Equally important, to me at least, is that we link several reviews of the showcased product from around the web......We don't think our opinion is the only one you need to read.....we stand behind our reviews 100%, but as we say at the end of every review......we may see something that another site doesn't, and vice versa. Last in the equation is reader feedback.....we want to know if our readers have any experience with the product, we want to hear questions and comments.....stuff like this can only make our reviews better, which is our goal....to have great, unbiased, fair reviews that help you make the best choices, and the most of your money.

The Rotating HL Tag Lines

Capper — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:54:51 GMT

As many of you have noticed, the HL tag line rotates frequently....once a week or so, depending on what gives us a chuckle. While most sites use the tag line for something witty about their site, I've decided to use a rotating tag line to reflect something humorous from the forums or from around the web.

A couple of weeks ago, I took some cheap shots at Tom Brady of the despised New England Patriots, much to the chagrine of Paul, who has Tom Brady PJs and a large Tom Brady poster in front of his bed.

Last week, it was in reference to [H]ard|OCP's constant chest thumping about canned benchmarks, and their repeated slamming of any opinion that doesn't mirror their own (Even though I agree with them in principle).

This week, its all about DirecTV, the absolute worst company I've ever dealt with. You can read about my experience here:

http://forums.hardwarelogic.com/f211...mer-12021.html

Theres even more to the story, but right now I'm just too busy to go into it with all the detail it needs and deserves.....needless to say that DirecTV lost a 10yr customer, one that will never recommend them or their service ever again.

To be perfectly honest, the tag line is something to have fun with, I mean no harm. If you are confused by a tag line, or have a problem with it....make sure you send Paul an email, he takes all complaints.

Netflix makes Baby Jesus Cry

onebxr — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:23:44 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/38bozr

This comes as another blow to those of us that were early adopters of HDDVD. After the departure of Warner from the HDDVD camp it seems that all the rats(big companies) are leaving the sinking ship.

I for one dont see the big deal in any of the HD content on these discs. They look better and sound better than a normal SD(standard definition) disc. But I dont think they look and sound good enough for the premium that one has to pay to view the discs.

I own ~15 HDDVD discs and an A3 player. 9 of these movies were free and the player was a $99.00 Black Friday fiasco. So basically I am not out any money so I dont have much invested in either HD or BLU. So my advice to you if you are considering looking into either format is to WAIT!

My reasoning for telling you to wait is that soon you will be able to stream HD content through your computer essentially negating the use of a disc. Also if you arent unhappy with the current SD discs I would stick with them as they look pretty good on an upconverting player.

My predictions for both BLu and HDDVD are that they will both go the way of the Betamax, and Laserdisc. As of now these are just niche markets and not widely accepted. The price of admission is still pretty steep even with HDDVD's price cuts. You have to look at the price of a HD disc is ~ $30.00. At the same time you can get in a bargain bin for 9.99 for the SD version.

In 2 years you can thank me,
Richard (A.K.A. Nostrodamous)

Tom Cruise and Scientology

Quakindude — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 01:41:16 GMT

Have you seen Tom Cruise talking about Scientology?

Unfortunately, I saw it today at the request of my wife. She was rather adamant that I see how much of a fruitcake this guy has really become. I have absolutely nothing against Scientology's organization. I completely disagree with the whole premise of this "religion", but that's my own personal beliefs.

According to this website, Scientology is the fastest growing religion on the planet. Funny, I thought Islam had that market share. But then again, I'm Christian in my beliefs and thought we were. A quick search through Google certainly clarifies things doesn't it?

Also mentioned on that website is the following:

Quote:

and our youth emerge from their schools unable to read or write.

While my children can read and write just fine, both of them are at least two grade levels above the national average, I'm growing increasingly concerned with people's ability to simply express their thoughts.

Tom Cruise certainly has made himself the poster boy for that concern.

Few things in this world piss me off worse than some ignorant actor, or other entertainer, that thinks the amount of money they have made entitles them to speak with some authority on anything of import. It's painfully obvious that Tom Cruise thinks he has risen to a new level of consciousness through his acting career, money and beliefs in Scientology.

After watching this video though, I can just feel the number of new recruits for Scientology diminishing. Fast.

Tom Cruise has certainly forgotten that he has to drop his pants and evacuate his bowels just like every other human being on the face of this planet. Whether you're in a multi-million dollar home or, living out of a hole in the ground in the most militarily contested place on earth, taking a dump should bring most people back to their senses. There's something nullifying about taking a good dump. You put a Politician, a religious leader, an actor and a Soldier in the same outhouse with four seats, all of them exposed to each other, and I'd bet you could just see the equalization of a normal, daily routine take hold of them and make them all the same. Place them on equal footing.

Why did I go into the outhouse with this?

Because it's painfully obvious that Tom Cruise hasn't taken a dump in quite some time. Humbleness, equality, normalcy, common sense...none of these words can be used to describe a man so full of shit as Tom Cruise.

This man has lost all touch with reality. He has completely forgotten the place from which he came. His parents must be so throughly disgusted with him. His high-school buddies, who I'm sure would brag about having known him in school during the Top Gun heyday, must hang their heads in embarrassment, making excuses about having not really known him.

This man provokes a violent, sickening sense of revulsion and shame in me. I'm ashamed this individual is an American and living in this country. What a damned freak.

The only relief I've had after watching his video was in watching this one.

Get rid of mis-spelled words in FireFox Dictionary

Quakindude — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:14:13 GMT

So there I was, posting to one of my forums. My ire had been raised, stoked, smoked and let loose over some guy saying that ATI was now the King of Gaming performance with the new X2 GPU it will release in the next few weeks. It's called the ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB (R680).

This guy was adamantly proclaiming, and still is with very bad grammar and spelling, that a comparison of the ATI X2 GPU was a fair and balanced comparison to a 8800 Ultra. Give me a friggin break! But I digress.

As I was firing off another post insulting him utilizing his own stupidity against him, I mis-spelled "tantrum" as "tsntrum." When I right clicked the word, I overshot the correct spelling and instead, hit "Add to Dictionary."

A conundrum! How do I fix it? I looked around FF for a bit, (OK, an hour!) going through every single menu on the tool bar. While I did discover a few new things about FF, I didn't discover, even in the help menu, how to delete a word from the dictionary. So I hit up Google and quickly had it figured out and corrected.

Here's what you do:

In Windows, go to Start-Run. Copy and paste the following into the run box:

%APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles;

Navigate to your profile folder, which by default, will look something like xxxxx.default. In that folder, look for a file called persdict.dat. Double click on it and if Notepad doesn't automatically open it, go through the "Open With" routine select Notepad as the program to open it with. Once the file is open, you'll see a bunch of words all jammed together in a continuous line. Just look for the word and then delete it. Close Notepad saving the file. Now, the mis-spelled word has been removed from your FireFox dictionary.

Too bad there isn't a file I can edit to remove annoying as hell ATI fanboi's.

**Update**

Now that I'm running Vista full time, I had to figure this out for it. Navigate to the following location to find the persdict.dat file to edit:

Code:

C:\users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\[unique-alphanumeric-string].default\persdict.dat

EVGA offers $89 upgrade to 780i for 680i Owners.

Quakindude — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 04:48:35 GMT

Not long ago, I posted a thread about EVGA offering a one time upgrade offer to those customers who had purchased the 680i SLI motherboard from them. For $89, you can upgrade to EVGA's newest chipset, the 780i SLI.

Many sites have simply shrugged off the 780i as an incremental move. Some think it should be called the 680i SLI v2.0 instead of going to a whole new chipset identifier.

However, I think there's been some great underestimation done.

EVGA 780i breaks 30k in 3DMark06.

3DMark06 Score card. Shows a 5.8GHz overclock.

There's awesome overclocking experiences happening all over forums every where with the new 780i. Take EVGA's own forums for example.
Check out some of the threads in this section.

When I first posted my original link about the 780i program, I jumped onto the bandwagon. I had recently received my 680i updated board for use with my Q6600. My original 680i would only take my Q6600 G0 CPU to 2.8 or so. The new, updated 680i I got from EVGA, with free cross shipping no less!, allowed me to go up to 3.2GHz stably. 3.4GHz for short periods of time. But over all, there was something just *missing* with Quad support. If I used my Dominator 1066MHz ram, I would get random lockups. Using my OCZ DDR2-800, I stopped having lockups but began having random slow downs. I finally traced the problem to overheating NB and SB chips. I improved the cooling, but I still didn't really enjoy overclocks as high as I thought I should be getting.

Well, I finally got my email from EVGA last night. After one month of sitting in the queue, waiting for my number to come up, my 680i SLI is packed up and ready to be shipped. I'm excited! I can't wait to see what this new mobo will do with my Q6600 CPU.

I think it's simply awesome how well EVGA is taking care of their customers. At first, for many weeks, it was thought that EVGA would only allow stepping up to the 780i from 680i SLI board owners with certain part numbers. In other words, if you spent $250-300 for a 680i, you would be able to get the 780i for just $89+Shipping. It was a pretty well made conclusion that owners of lesser board would probably be left out.

Now though, one of the EVGA Forum company reps has made the statement that even 680i LT owners will now be included in this upgrade offer, albeit at more than $89.

Quote:

To EVGA 680i LT owners
EVGA will be offering a special (1) one time upgrade promotional program to all of its (122-CK-NF67-XX)* registered customers. This program will be for a limited time. (122-CK-NF67-XX)* customers will be able to upgrade to the 780i (132-CK-NF78-XX) motherboard for a one time fee. The program will launch early next week; stay tuned for more details.

Thanks,

So if you've been mislead into overlooking this opportunity, you may want to do some research of your own. The 780i is doing some great things in the enthusiast market.

I can't wait to get my hands on mine and overclock the snot out of it. Should be a very interesting experience! Hell, at this point, getting my Q6600 to 3.6GHz would be worth the expense and wait time!

EULA's are everywhere...and I'm sick of them.

Quakindude — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 03:54:52 GMT

How about Pinnacle System's Studio version 9? In part, you agree to allow them to automatically download and install "security" updates to protect DRM material, effectively hamstringing your software...

Quote:

You acknowledge and agree that in order to protect the integrity of certain third party content, Pinnacle and/or its licensors may provide for Software security related updates that will be automatically downloaded and installed on your computer. Such security related updates may impair the Software (and any other software on your computer which specifically depends on the Software) including disabling your ability to copy and/or play "secure" content, i.e. content protected by digital rights management.

Legalese such as this is abundant in today's technology driven lifestyle. Used to be, you'd only see crap like this when buying a car or opening a credit card account. Wal-Mart has even gotten it to the point where you don't even need to check to see what you're agreeing to after reading the EULA the first time. Why? Because you've already agreed to all future changes regardless.

Quote:

By using the Site or downloading materials from the Site, you agree to abide by the terms and conditions set forth in this notice as well as all other policies described in the Site. If you do not agree to abide by these terms and conditions or any future terms and conditions, please do not use the Site or download materials from the Site.

Even Microsoft has a need to get down to the finest details. Here's what MS had to say about Java support in C++:

Quote:

7. NOTE ON JAVA SUPPORT. THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT MAY CONTAIN SUPPORT FOR PROGRAMS WRITTEN IN JAVA. JAVA TECHNOLOGY IS NOT FAULT TOLERANT AND IS NOT DESIGNED, MANUFACTURED, OR INTENDED FOR USE OR RESALE AS ON-LINE CONTROL EQUIPMENT IN HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENTS REQUIRING FAIL-SAFE PERFORMANCE, SUCH AS IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES, AIRCRAFT NAVIGATION OR COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL, DIRECT LIFE SUPPORT MACHINES, OR WEAPONS SYSTEMS, IN WHICH THE FAILURE OF JAVA TECHNOLOGY COULD LEAD DIRECTLY TO DEATH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR SEVERE PHYSICAL OR ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE.

I admit, I don't read 95% of the EULA's I agree to when I install a program. It's an exhaustive, intensive, headache inducing mind-rape to even try to keep up with them, especially when they change so damned often. So what's an adult ADHD computer geek to do?

1. Print them out and read them before bed. Not only will you edumacate yourself, you can finally put away that bottle of Ambien!

2. Print them out and read them in the bathroom. Another great use for these things is wiping your ass. At least here, you get some satisfaction!

3. Download and run EULAlyzer� 1.2. Not only will you save materials, and your butt from rough paper, but this neat little program will point out phrases and wordage you actually need to be concerned about. I've tried it on a few different EULA's and let me tell you, it's simply amazing what you can discover.

Maybe I should write a EULA about this blog....

The Power Party is About Over

MantaBase — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:35:52 GMT

It�s ironic that just about every component of a computer system is getting more and more efficient (including PSU�s themselves), but the wattage requirements for enthusiast rigs keep going up and up.
As examples for efficiency, modern CPU�s require less wattage than they did a few years ago. LCD monitors suck up about 30 watts max as compared to the 130 watts of a common CRT. The USB powered craze forced peripheral makers to watch power consumption and design that way. The move toward notebook/mobile computing has really pushed computer component makers to look at power budgets verses performance. Our �greening� attitude (whether from heart or wallet) has contributed to advancements such as the �80 Plus� certification for PSUs; a trend not unnoticed by marketing gurus.

Antec's 1200 Watt monster - how much bigger can we go? Not Much.

So why do we need more power when everything is so much more efficient? Well, there is one component maker that hasn�t really cared about efficiency much until now. Who? Oh come on, you guys know! What�s becoming the #1 heat generator in your uber gaming rig? What�s now taking more power to operate than the CPU? What is driving the PC to become the biggest power consuming device in a house outside of an electric oven?

Video Cards.

The power consumption on video cards has risen and risen. We checked an 8800 GTX and found it sucking 80+ watts at idle. At load we suspect they (high end cards) use up to 200 watts. In a Three card SLI system that�s 600 watts. Driven by the unending need to supply benchmarks for gamers, efficiency has been thrown out the door for brute force. PSU makers have followed along because, well, why not, it sells more (and larger) PSUs. Why should graphic card makers adhere to efficiency philosophies? After all, FPS is far more important than anything else right? Gamers want it - so they make it � dam the torpedoes � and efficient design. It�s your RIGHT to have the highest FPS possible � no matter what! Gaming is what drives the PC market! People who talk about efficiency are just tree huggers � Gaming is about economics! Yada yada yoda.

Well, the power party is about to end.

A typical US home uses one circuit for the outlets in a typical bedroom or typical office room. That typical circuit is 15 amps at 120 volts. Doing the math, that�s 1800 watts of available power from the wall in a room. A high quality power supply is 80% efficient. That means PSUs over 1440 watts are over the limit. And you can knock another 200-300 watts off that for the power things like monitors, printers, lamps and other peripherals suck up. The largest practical power supply is really about 1200 watts.

But, but, but�High FPS and realistic graphics take this much power � there�s no way around it!

Think again Charlie. Recently (at CES 2008) Paul Lilly had a chance to step up next to a three card SLI rig with the side cover off. Wanna know what it felt like? Go grab your girlfriend�s (ok sisiter�s�(fine, mother�s)) hair dryer and pop it on full and blow it in your face. A bit toasty? Welcome to inefficiency.

That heat coming off the graphic cards not only means you need to waste more wattage cooling your rig, but every degree coming off the cards is wasted wattage the manufacture didn�t care about (but you pay for). If you live in Alaska, you might welcome it � but to the rest of us it�s PC death.

The future? Well, nVidia and ATI can see the writing on the wall � they are about to hit it after all. My Crystal ball says GPUs are about to �go green�.

- Chris