MEWXPZLFUDAWV Club!

[C-Chan]

These puppies thank you for your hard work!  



Funny how much easier it was to set Puppy-chan on this machine rather than on your old Compaq -- I'm sure it's due in part to the hardware, but I'm also convinced it has to do with your enhanced Sk1llzr.  ^.^

You probably weren't around when I reported success refurbishing a similar old Compaq -- although for that one, I used MacPup instead of vanilla Puppy (basically it's Puppy Linux 4.0 designed to look and act like Mac OSX).  ^^'

Also, keep an eye out for Grant_P's future fanfic, as he seems to be branching out from solely Ubuntu-sama fandom, to Puppy-chan praise.  ^^

And an Ace?  You?  Don't aim so low, my dear.  You're gonna make Air Chief Marshal at this rate!  ^.^

[Bella]

Cute puppies! ^__^
*gets big bag*
*steals puppies*
Tehehehehe...

You probably weren't around when I reported success refurbishing a similar old Compaq -- although for that one, I used MacPup instead of vanilla Puppy (basically it's Puppy Linux 4.0 designed to look and act like Mac OSX). ^^'

Whaaaaaaa? MacPup? Why hadn't I head of its existance until I looked at Grant_P's thread :V

Also, keep an eye out for Grant_P's future fanfic, as he seems to be branching out from solely Ubuntu-sama fandom, to Puppy-chan praise. ^^

Yay! I just read his newest fanfics today! I just love them, he's such a good writer

And an Ace? You? Don't aim so low, my dear. You're gonna make Air Chief Marshal at this rate! ^.^

This from the dude who has half his neighborhood using Linux...or so it would seem?

Anyhow...

In Mac Relations news...
My father presents....
The Classic Jedi Mind-Trick:
"Hey, when I get my Mac are you gonna become a Mac Evangelist?"

(It's going to be a business computer, mainly, so I'll probably be one of its operators)

To which I reply: "Are you?"

Oh lawd. The sum of all our fears have been realized: Pops is gonna be an uber-zealot @_____@

In Windows news, another friend is having Vista problems. He installed a new wireless card and...gasp...lo and behold, his new printer stopped working! I mean, is that your best, Vista? Screwing up a printer? C'mon, that's a cliche already!

My XP machine is still relentlessly trying to avoid running Firefox and Kantairs, even after a a system restore back FOUR MONTHS. Uber-zealot Pops is ardent that (and I quote) "Evil M$" is behind it. OMG.

In slightly less game-like than Photoshop news, I've been a bit bored. So what's better for boredom than...huh? Playing around with a command line interface?! It started when a paper I was reading on Plan 9 (now I'm strangly curious about Plan 9, but can't justify any good reason to try it out). They were talking about how most Unix systems have a lot of baggage attached. Like baggage from some time in the 1960s. It turns outs that the CLI on most *nix systems is set up the same as it was back in the 60s when they still used teletype machines. "Go to an xterminal and type in "stty" and answer why it shows the baud rate" I think was their exact wording. I took this as a challenge. So I start up Ubuntu, go to the terminal, and type in "stty". Hey! It shows the baud rate! wtf?

After that I decided to play around with the command prompt on Windows. Hey, typing "help" gives you help! I never knew that.

Aside from VMS filenames (wft?!), I still don't grasp the concept of syntax, though. >__<

[C-Chan]

YO BELLA-HIME!!!!  ^V^

*squeals with joy*

Happy to see you back!  (you still on your road trip?)  ^__'

Sorry I haven't shown up to receive you -- I've been both a little sick, and a little overjoyed with the Acer Aspire One.  Absolutely LOVE it to bits.  ^.^

Only have enough time right now to reply here, but I'll return to answer that whicheth occupyith most of the Art Threadeth.  ^___________^;

[and your PM]  ^.~

Cute puppies! ^__^
*gets big bag*
*steals puppies*
Tehehehehe...

Divine retribution... ^^;

Whaaaaaaa? MacPup? Why hadn't I head of its existance until I looked at Grant_P's thread :V

Well it's easy to overlook all the Puplets (cute fancy term for Puppy Linux Remasters), since we're so used to installing the official versions of systems.  ^^'
Some of them are very nice, and definitely save you a lot of work if they add in many of the things you plan to add yourself (e.g,, Inkscape, support for Compiz Fusion, XFCE, etc)

Yay! I just read his newest fanfics today! I just love them, he's such a good writer  

Yep!  Although again, I owe him some comments.  Geez, I'm way behind.  T__T;

This from the dude who has half his neighborhood using Linux...or so it would seem?

Well with the Aspire One, I'm making inroads at least.  ^.^

My father presents....
The Classic Jedi Mind-Trick:
"Hey, when I get my Mac are you gonna become a Mac Evangelist?"

(It's going to be a business computer, mainly, so I'll probably be one of its operators)

To which I reply: "Are you?"

Oh lawd. The sum of all our fears have been realized: Pops is gonna be an uber-zealot @_____@

Wow,... how the world doth change compared to when I first met you (and you divulged the secret of your family's adoration for Windows and loathing for all things,... fruity).  Fortunately, Mac Evangelists are a relatively well-behaved bunch (albeit a little lazy and... gulp... spend-crazy).  ^^;

In Windows news, another friend is having Vista problems. He installed a new wireless card and...gasp...lo and behold, his new printer stopped working! I mean, is that your best, Vista? Screwing up a printer? C'mon, that's a cliche already!

In other news, the sun rose in the east this morning and bears crapped in the woods.  ^.^;
Actually, XP sales are doing quite well with netbooks (e.g., EeePC and AAO), but they're not blowing away the Linux versions by a 50 to 1 margin like was originally expected (more like 1.5 to 1).  Plus the continued sale of XP is eating away at Vista market share, AND they still have to subsidize Windows XP (and the extra hardware needed to run it) for Asus, MSI, Acer, etc to prevent their versions from being significantly more expensive than the Linux versions.  

Kinda puts this story into perspective.....  ^.^'

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/082008-ms-novel.html?t51hb

My XP machine is still relentlessly trying to avoid running Firefox and Kantairs, even after a a system restore back FOUR MONTHS. Uber-zealot Pops is ardent that (and I quote) "Evil M$" is behind it. OMG.

Wow!  He's an uber zealot and he still doesn't have a Mac yet....  ^_____^;

You said the problem might be due to .Net update, right?

Have you tried regressing that specifically?  Or at worst, running firefox from XP's fake DOS prompt?  (Go to Start>Run, then type in cmd, then type in firefox or something like that in the prompt, and see what error messages you get)

Worse comes to worse, you can always get acquainted with Opera.  ^.^

I kinda/sorta/maybe agree with your Pop.  There's a lot to gain (profit-wise) in driving people away from XP.

In slightly less game-like than Photoshop news, I've been a bit bored. So what's better for boredom than...huh? Playing around with a command line interface?! It started when a paper I was reading on Plan 9 (now I'm strangly curious about Plan 9, but can't justify any good reason to try it out). They were talking about how most Unix systems have a lot of baggage attached. Like baggage from some time in the 1960s. It turns outs that the CLI on most *nix systems is set up the same as it was back in the 60s when they still used teletype machines. "Go to an xterminal and type in "stty" and answer why it shows the baud rate" I think was their exact wording. I took this as a challenge. So I start up Ubuntu, go to the terminal, and type in "stty". Hey! It shows the baud rate! wtf?

Fufu!  Indeed, there's an awful lot of history behind Terminal usage (either in Linux or in OSX).  A lot of commands such as "ls" (used to list a directory) or "df" (used to indicate file sizes) or the ubiquitous "cd" (used to change directories) were conceived in an era when even monitors may not have necessarily been present!  If you wonder how that's possible, think of how certain print calculators can still perform advanced functions just by specific keycode combinations.  Either way, making the "ls" command become "list-directory" in such an environment would just increase the error rate ten-fold, and would've drove users to Multics-sama in a heartbeat.  ^.^;

After that I decided to play around with the command prompt on Windows. Hey, typing "help" gives you help! I never knew that.

Aside from VMS filenames (wft?!), I still don't grasp the concept of syntax, though. >__<

Yep -- that fake DOS prompt is fairly easy to navigate if you're used to using a BASH shell actually.  Though some things are very different, other commands are identical (e.g., "cd", "dir", "help").

If you want to explore CLIs further, though, the command prompt is not the best place to start -- as it's not real MS-DOS, it caps your potential quite a bit.

In order to witness just how powerful a CLI can be, switch back to Ubuntu and follow this fun and interactive tutorial:

http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/linuxcommand.org/

This guide is what I used to learn how to use the terminal AND write shell scripts, and I've been happier ever since.  Knowing how to navigate and thrive in a shell environment eliminates the fear of watching your system not boot into X.  

(BTW, the guide also shows you how to install Cygwin -- or BASH for Windows -- but I wouldn't mess with that yet.  Last thing I want to be responsible for is the accidental borking of K8's system.  ^^; )

Added after 7 hours 33 minutes:

Oh, and another geek-inspired article to brighten one's day.  ^.^

http://www.besttechie.net/forums/Linux-Humor-t14545.html

[Bella]

YO BELLA-HIME!!!! ^V^

*squeals with joy*

Happy to see you back! (you still on your road trip?) ^__'

Sorry I haven't shown up to receive you -- I've been both a little sick, and a little overjoyed with the Acer Aspire One. Absolutely LOVE it to bits. ^.^

Only have enough time right now to reply here, but I'll return to answer that whicheth occupyith most of the Art Threadeth. ^___________^;

[and your PM] ^.~

Sick, huh? I know the feeling X__x

But I'm glad you finally got your Aspire One.

Divine retribution... ^^;

OMG...that looks just like one of my Babies...when she was a puppy (I've had her coming up on 11 years).

Well it's easy to overlook all the Puplets (cute fancy term for Puppy Linux Remasters), since we're so used to installing the official versions of systems. ^^'
Some of them are very nice, and definitely save you a lot of work if they add in many of the things you plan to add yourself (e.g,, Inkscape, support for Compiz Fusion, XFCE, etc)

XFCE!? Why had I never heard of Puppy with XFCE! :V

Wow,... how the world doth change compared to when I first met you (and you divulged the secret of your family's adoration for Windows and loathing for all things,... fruity). Fortunately, Mac Evangelists are a relatively well-behaved bunch (albeit a little lazy and... gulp... spend-crazy). ^^;

He maintains now that he never was a Windows zealot, but a "what works" zealot (Sounds like a Mac Evangelist to me). Since XP worked (and still does) for him, he likes XP, but he doesn't feel the way about...let's say newer Windowses  O__o

Oh--yeah--I came up with a limerick yesterday--
There once was an OS called Vista;
It made many new users wistful;
It crashed and it freezed, had none of XP's ease,
Now the consumers are pissed off.

XD

Kinda puts this story into perspective..... ^.^'

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/082008-ms-novel.html?t51hb

Oh lawd... >__<

Wow! He's an uber zealot and he still doesn't have a Mac yet.... ^_____^;

You said the problem might be due to .Net update, right?

Have you tried regressing that specifically? Or at worst, running firefox from XP's fake DOS prompt? (Go to Start>Run, then type in cmd, then type in firefox or something like that in the prompt, and see what error messages you get)

Worse comes to worse, you can always get acquainted with Opera. ^.^

I kinda/sorta/maybe agree with your Pop. There's a lot to gain (profit-wise) in driving people away from XP.

IT IS a problem with .NET Framework. While it was mostly a hunch based on scant evidence, I now have proof.
So I go to uninstall .NET framework 2.0. It gives me the option to repair or uninstall. I try repairing. Well, what should come up but this intriguing little message:


And shotly after:


Same dialogue comes up when I try to uninstall it. So I went to the MS site and downloaded .NET framwork 3.5, thinking maybe this would get rid of the problem. After a lenghthy download I think...finally...I've gotten it to work; but no, near the end of installation theis same dialogue comes up.
Firefox won't start at all, when I try to run it nothing happens. When I try to run Kantaris, this comes up:



And .NET doesn't work, I can't uninstall it, I can't repair it, I can't reinstall it or install a new version. I know Firefox and Kantaris are dependent upon .NET framwork. My other computer can run Firefox and has .NET framwork 1.1 installed, yet it cannot run Kantaris because it doesn't have 2.0 installed. This proves two  very important things: that K8 has had .NET 2.0 installed for some time, because it has always been able to run Kantaris; and that .NET 1.1 can run Firefox fine.  
Now, the fact that .NET seems so screwed up, along with the fact that no form of non-destructive system restore can repair it, makes me think the chain of dependancies may go deeper; what could .NET be dependant on?

Yep -- that fake DOS prompt is fairly easy to navigate if you're used to using a BASH shell actually. Though some things are very different, other commands are identical (e.g., "cd", "dir", "help").

If you want to explore CLIs further, though, the command prompt is not the best place to start -- as it's not real MS-DOS, it caps your potential quite a bit.

In order to witness just how powerful a CLI can be, switch back to Ubuntu and follow this fun and interactive tutorial:

http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/linuxcommand.org/

This guide is what I used to learn how to use the terminal AND write shell scripts, and I've been happier ever since. Knowing how to navigate and thrive in a shell environment eliminates the fear of watching your system not boot into X.

(BTW, the guide also shows you how to install Cygwin -- or BASH for Windows -- but I wouldn't mess with that yet. Last thing I want to be responsible for is the accidental borking of K8's system. ^^; )

Ooh, I'll have to check that out. That looks pretty interesting!
(And no worries, I'm not going to do anything that could bork K8. She's borked enough as is @__@)

Oh, and another geek-inspired article to brighten one's day. ^.^

http://www.besttechie.net/forums/Linux-Humor-t14545.html

Haha! That's brilliant! It makes me wanna make some motivational posters

Some...news-ish stories I found intersting:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gIiC0f4ECVVPCVVRQexjLv6ldVtwD92N0MQ01

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=linux_and_unix&articleId=69761&taxonomyId=122&intsrc=kc_feat

[C-Chan]

Yeah!  I'm back in full force, ready to type up some REAL replies!  Gloves are coming off, no matter what!  ^__^

*starts typing furiously*

Added after 57 minutes:

Yeah!  I'm back in full force, ready to type up some REAL replies!  Gloves are coming off, no matter what!  ^__^

*starts typing furiously*

XFCE!? Why had I never heard of Puppy with XFCE! :V

Oh my, oh my, you've got some more Puppy reading to do.  ^__^
There's Puppy with Enlightenment, Gnome, KDE, LXDE,... she can be customized in so many different ways, up to the point where you lose the whole speed bonus of the distro.  ^.^

He maintains now that he never was a Windows zealot, but a "what works" zealot (Sounds like a Mac Evangelist to me). Since XP worked (and still does) for him, he likes XP, but he doesn't feel the way about...let's say newer Windowses O__o

I fear that when he starts using Parallels on his soon-to-be-Mac, he's gonna become even MORE "zealotized".  Parallels offers the best virtualization solution for XP in my opinion (though admittedly, I've never used VMWare Fusion).  ^____^

Equipped with Parallels,  "just works" Mac can come equipped with a "just works" Windows XP and he'll be able to run whatever he can't substitute on a Mac (the list of which is shrinking as time goes on).  ^__~

Oh--yeah--I came up with a limerick yesterday--
There once was an OS called Vista;
It made many new users wistful;
It crashed and it freezed, had none of XP's ease,
Now the consumers are pissed off.

Fufu... have a hard time matching a particular rhyme pair,... but otherwise a classic!  BWAHAHAHA!!  ^V^

IT IS a problem with .NET Framework. While it was mostly a hunch based on scant evidence, I now have proof.
So I go to uninstall .NET framework 2.0. It gives me the option to repair or uninstall. I try repairing. Well, what should come up but this intriguing little message:

Oh LAWD, that does sound like a major mess on your hands. ^^;
I do recall haveing similar problems with .NET in my old VPR Matrix machine.  I forgot what I was upgrading to -- only know that after I did, the whole system slowed to a crawl at bootup,... among other major issues.

Before I could find a solution to the problem, though, the hard drive finally died so the whole system was shot to hell.  And when I got a new hard drive, I made absolutely sure NEVER to upgrade that thing.  ^^;

Hence, I would never know what went wrong with it.  -.-'

ogue comes up when I try to uninstall it. So I went to the MS site and downloaded .NET framwork 3.5, thinking maybe this would get rid of the problem. After a lenghthy download I think...finally...I've gotten it to work; but no, near the end of installation theis same dialogue comes up.
Firefox won't start at all, when I try to run it nothing happens. When I try to run Kantaris, this comes up:

Yep, a real mess.  ^^;

But hey, it ain't all bad....  
You're using the Commodore sisters pic, even though it's not finished.  I should probably finish that tomorrow so you'll have something nicer to post up in K8's desktop.  Thank ye very mucho, Bella-hime!  ^.^

Now, the fact that .NET seems so screwed up, along with the fact that no form of non-destructive system restore can repair it, makes me think the chain of dependancies may go deeper; what could .NET be dependant on?

Sadly, you seem to not be the only one wondering that....

http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/01/why-cannot-i-uninstall-the-microsoft-net-framework/

http://forums.techarena.in/windows-update/920892.htm

Sounds like it depends on older versions of itself, apart from other hidden things that are nowhere near as obvious.  Just wondering, but have you tried uninstalling this in Safe Mode?  

Granted, you'll have to jump through a few hurdles just to have the ability to uninstall the majority of programs in Safe Mode:

http://www.nirmaltv.com/2008/02/13/windows-xp-tips-installuninstall-applications-in-safe-mode/

(And no worries, I'm not going to do anything that could bork K8. She's borked enough as is @__@)

That's what I'm afraid of.  ^^;
If you can burn DVDs, now would be a good time to shuttle your files out if you haven't already.  ^.^;

Some...news-ish stories I found intersting:

Well the second one is six years old, but the first one -- yeah, it was quite the barrel of laughs these past couple of days.  ^____^

Presumably the guys who made the Burger King "King" commercials will also be coordinating this new media campaign.  While I've never seen those commercials, I have heard of their infamous creepy stalking mascot and presumably rather disturbing commercials.  Therefore, i'm having a hard time believing this will be a match made in heaven.  ^^;

[Bella]

Oh my, oh my, you've got some more Puppy reading to do. ^__^
There's Puppy with Enlightenment, Gnome, KDE, LXDE,... she can be customized in so many different ways, up to the point where you lose the whole speed bonus of the distro. ^.^

Yeah, Puppy got a bit neglected when I started doing virtualiztion on K8 and could run distros like...Ubuntu and Debian

I fear that when he starts using Parallels on his soon-to-be-Mac, he's gonna become even MORE "zealotized". Parallels offers the best virtualization solution for XP in my opinion (though admittedly, I've never used VMWare Fusion). ^____^

Equipped with Parallels, "just works" Mac can come equipped with a "just works" Windows XP and he'll be able to run whatever he can't substitute on a Mac (the list of which is shrinking as time goes on). ^__~

Ack, too bad neither of us have XP installation disks. Oh well, I'm sure it's not like those are a rare commodity.

Fufu... have a hard time matching a particular rhyme pair,... but otherwise a classic! BWAHAHAHA!! ^V^

That would be the wistful/pissed off rhyme, right?

Oh LAWD, that does sound like a major mess on your hands. ^^;
I do recall haveing similar problems with .NET in my old VPR Matrix machine. I forgot what I was upgrading to -- only know that after I did, the whole system slowed to a crawl at bootup,... among other major issues.

Before I could find a solution to the problem, though, the hard drive finally died so the whole system was shot to hell. And when I got a new hard drive, I made absolutely sure NEVER to upgrade that thing. ^^;

Hence, I would never know what went wrong with it. -.-'

Oh wow, are you trying to scare the hell out of me, or is that only a side effect?

Luckily, I figure K8's been updated since sometime in early July, and she's been running just fine. Bootup has always been a bit slow, which is understandable when you have 3/4ths of the HD space used up. Things were a bit laggy starting up this morning, but then again I was having some problems with the active desktop and when that was resolved she's been fine since.

Yep, a real mess. ^^;

But hey, it ain't all bad....
You're using the Commodore sisters pic, even though it's not finished. I should probably finish that tomorrow so you'll have something nicer to post up in K8's desktop. Thank ye very mucho, Bella-hime! ^.^

It's a placeholder until I gets me Unix panel on the ZS comic!!!1!!

Sadly, you seem to not be the only one wondering that....

http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/01/why-cannot-i-uninstall-the-microsoft-net-framework/

http://forums.techarena.in/windows-update/920892.htm

Sounds like it depends on older versions of itself, apart from other hidden things that are nowhere near as obvious. Just wondering, but have you tried uninstalling this in Safe Mode?

Granted, you'll have to jump through a few hurdles just to have the ability to uninstall the majority of programs in Safe Mode:

http://www.nirmaltv.com/2008/02/13/windows-xp-tips-installuninstall-applications-in-safe-mode/

Umm...you know...safe mode (or at least getting into safe mode) doesn't seem to be so safe. It should be called dangerous mode I think.

We don't want the cure to be more destructive than the ailment...

That's what I'm afraid of. ^^;
If you can burn DVDs, now would be a good time to shuttle your files out if you haven't already. ^.^;

*panic levels rising*

DVDs?! What kinda backup-unconscious rustic do ya take me for! Hell, I have a whole redundant HD that I backup on a bi-monthly basis!

'Course I don't even trust my backup very much. It is just a little (500 GB) external HDD that I've had for two years...I probably should have gone for a SDD and payed more money in hindsight... -__-

The irony is, this machine has been in and out of the repair shop more times than I can count on one hand, it's had major repairs done where the odds of me getting my data--or even the same unit--back were against me, yet I've been running this same installation of XP since the day I got it four years ago in September. It's gone through a motherboard, an AC adapter, two sets of hingers, a screen, a keyboard and some screen circuitry; yet the software has always been 100% stable the entire time (okay except for the motherboard incident, that's a different story).

I'm not going to try to reinstall XP now. >__<

Well the second one is six years old, but the first one -- yeah, it was quite the barrel of laughs these past couple of days. ^____^

Presumably the guys who made the Burger King "King" commercials will also be coordinating this new media campaign. While I've never seen those commercials, I have heard of their infamous creepy stalking mascot and presumably rather disturbing commercials. Therefore, i'm having a hard time believing this will be a match made in heaven. ^^;

*facepalm* What? Google was set on news stories from the past month! Oh well...

I can't believe you've never seen those BK commercials. They were everywhere a while back...and yeah, they were very creepy O__O

But I disagree with you...I think this will be a match made in heaven considering how creepy M$ has become!

Added after 3 minutes:

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot to mention--I'm now using Safari as a web browser! I looked into Opera (I always thought it was open source), but I figured if I was going to go with some proprietary browser I might as well go with the one M$ has shown a seething hatred of (spiteful much?)

I have to say it's fast; it seems faster than Firefox and certainly faster than IE. The only thing I'm hating is that shiny Mac interface that doesn't match the rest of XP, and the fact that it takes longer to start up.

[C-Chan]

Ack, too bad neither of us have XP installation disks. Oh well, I'm sure it's not like those are a rare commodity.

Sister, you have NO idea....  XvX
But we needn't say more on the matter,... truth be told, as your Pop sinks deeper and deeper into Macdom, he may never look back.  ^^'

That would be the wistful/pissed off rhyme, right?

To take a page from Newspeak,... can't we do "pissful"?  

Oh wow, are you trying to scare the hell out of me, or is that only a side effect?

Well I don't think I'll go as far as to say the .Net fiasco wrecked my hard drive.  It was already +4 years old at the time running nothing but XP, so in a way it had it coming.  ^^;

Did want to stress the point, however, is that I couldn't physically remove .net easily because we commoners just aren't meant to know how to do that.  ^___^;

It's a placeholder until I gets me Unix panel on the ZS comic!!!1!!

Um,... you do realize that the quality fo the Unix panel is gonna be WOEFULLy inferior to that of the commodore sisters.... ^^;

Umm...you know...safe mode (or at least getting into safe mode) doesn't seem to be so safe. It should be called dangerous mode I think.

We don't want the cure to be more destructive than the ailment...

Nah, Safe Mode isn't that bad,... My gripe with it is that it rarely works as it should.  I've had instances where viruses load in it regardless.

*panic levels rising*

DVDs?! What kinda backup-unconscious rustic do ya take me for! Hell, I have a whole redundant HD that I backup on a bi-monthly basis!

'Course I don't even trust my backup very much. It is just a little (500 GB) external HDD that I've had for two years...I probably should have gone for a SDD and payed more money in hindsight... -__-

Oh trust me,... SSD drives for 500GB at that time did not exist,... or if they did, would cost you $25000USD or more.  ^^;

Even 64GB SSD drives now are $1000USD, give or take.

Admittedly, if you backup that much, an external HD is more convenient.  But DVD-Rs do make a very cost-efficient backup method, especially if you don't have very much to backup.  And while their life expectancy is not that hot (similar to CD-Rs), they're bound to last longer than an external HD.  Might be safer to do both.  ^____^'

I'm not going to try to reinstall XP now. >__<

Well,... looks like it finally happened.  

I can't believe you've never seen those BK commercials. They were everywhere a while back...and yeah, they were very creepy O__O

Remember, I don't watch much television at all.  ^^;

The closest I got to that recently was watching the reimagined BattleStar Galactica series, which my brother recommended and indeed I absolutely LOVE -- and even that's done from DVDs.  ^___^;

(oh, and SHARON "ATHENA" VALERI AGATHON rules!!!!  ^V^)

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot to mention--I'm now using Safari as a web browser! I looked into Opera (I always thought it was open source), but I figured if I was going to go with some proprietary browser I might as well go with the one M$ has shown a seething hatred of (spiteful much?)

I have to say it's fast; it seems faster than Firefox and certainly faster than IE. The only thing I'm hating is that shiny Mac interface that doesn't match the rest of XP, and the fact that it takes longer to start up.

Nope, Opera is definitely closed source -- but could've fooled anyone.  ^___^

Figures you'd try Safari,... for someone who will inevitably inherit her father's newfound Mac Zeal (bwahaha!  ^v^), it figures you'll want to start ticking your toe in the water now rather than later.  ^______________^

[Ultimaninja]

So this is a (lol) thread against Vista?

I'm against it, since I cannot play Let's Meow Meow on it, and had to switch back to xp.

Though I never wanted to leave xp in the first place

[C-Chan]

Yo! Mr. Ninja....  You finally show up where I can see you -- Topicless is the last place for longterm discussion these days.  `v'

This is actually more of a social club really, since Vista tarnishes its own reputation far more effectively than any of our rants.  >v<

Not that I'd advocate ditching an OS cause it can't run a single program (don't like it when it happens in Linux), so I'm sure you have a variety of other reasons for staying loyal to XP.  ^^

[Bella]

To take a page from Newspeak,... can't we do "pissful"?

XD

Well I don't think I'll go as far as to say the .Net fiasco wrecked my hard drive. It was already +4 years old at the time running nothing but XP, so in a way it had it coming. ^^;
Did want to stress the point, however, is that I couldn't physically remove .net easily because we commoners just aren't meant to know how to do that. ^___^;

Oh great, K8 is going on 4 years old and runs nothing but XP. You set my mind at ease, really T___T

Um,... you do realize that the quality fo the Unix panel is gonna be WOEFULLy inferior to that of the commodore sisters.... ^^;

Brother C-Chan and Sister Aurora shall only be keeping with the doctrines of Unix-ism. It shall not be inferior; it shall be more simplistic!

Oh trust me,... SSD drives for 500GB at that time did not exist,... or if they did, would cost you $25000USD or more. ^^;

Even 64GB SSD drives now are $1000USD, give or take.

Admittedly, if you backup that much, an external HD is more convenient. But DVD-Rs do make a very cost-efficient backup method, especially if you don't have very much to backup. And while their life expectancy is not that hot (similar to CD-Rs), they're bound to last longer than an external HD. Might be safer to do both. ^____^'

Well, all my documents barly put a dent in the HDD. Granted...they are around 20 GB. But I could probably ditch a lot of useless stuff and get it down to 15 or so @___@

And I never could figure out how to get K8 to burn DVDs, even though it does have a DVD burner. The confusion started before I left the store, with the saleman asking me if my computer had one kind of DVD burner or another--I forget, it was years ago--but one kind of DVD wouldn't work with a certain burner. It was like either DVD+R or DVD-R or something, I completly forget, I don't even know if I have the right burner/DVD combonation. I burned at least five DVDs (I have a 25 pack) and none of them work properly. But then again I am using Roxio, which is one of the most horrendous burners I've used, it would always screw up the job halfway through, so that may have something to do with it. Alcohol 120% I tried, and I have no idea what the hell is going on with that one either. So...

Well,... looks like it finally happened.

Yeah, well K8 apparently cannot write DVDs (or maybe I don't have the ability or software to), and I don't trust my external HDD...maybe I should just hand her over to those Geek Squad nimrods and have them make a backup of my data for me. I shutter at the thought of how expensive it might be, though >__<

Remember, I don't watch much television at all. ^^;

The closest I got to that recently was watching the reimagined BattleStar Galactica series, which my brother recommended and indeed I absolutely LOVE -- and even that's done from DVDs. ^___^;

(oh, and SHARON "ATHENA" VALERI AGATHON rules!!!! ^V^)

Ah, I've heard that's a really good series. I've not been watching much TV, either, because all my favorite shows are currently off the air. The only thing I've been watching lately is the Olympics.

So this is a (lol) thread against Vista?

I'm against it, since I cannot play Let's Meow Meow on it, and had to switch back to xp.

Though I never wanted to leave xp in the first place

Our tongue-and-cheek title aside, we're not so much against Vista, as we are for the alternatives we believe are better. XP, Mac, Linux, Unix, shell accounts, historical OSes running of shoddy emulators, abacuses, etc. etc.

Oh, and C-Chan, I tried that tutorial for using the terminal (under Puppy Linux, which ironically runs in VirtualBox on K8 almost perfectly) and got up to lesson four--that's excellent! Navigating using a CLI is a lot less frustrating than I imagined it'd be; not that I thought it'd be that difficult

[C-Chan]

Oh great, K8 is going on 4 years old and runs nothing but XP. You set my mind at ease, really T___T

No prob, no prob... remember also that my VPR Matrix is a desktop, while K8 is a laptop.  A lot of factors go into hard drive degradation, including over-usage (=excessive writes or defrags), electrical disturbances, physical shock, crappy platter [or needle] metals, and/or intentional sabotage by the OEMs to get you to buy more HDs.  ^^

In other words, when it comes to modern HDs, it all comes down to luck really -- luck which determines whether an HD will fail in one year or 10.  I say modern because older hard drives, apart from being better built, also had much fewer things to write (hence less physical wear and tear).

Brother C-Chan and Sister Aurora shall only be keeping with the doctrines of Unix-ism. It shall not be inferior; it shall be more simplistic!

Course, I think I made UNIX-sama simplistic enough to risk being buried under a mound of boots.  @___@;

That's the price I had to pay to just get the story moving.  ^^;

Well, all my documents barly put a dent in the HDD. Granted...they are around 20 GB. But I could probably ditch a lot of useless stuff and get it down to 15 or so @___@

WOW!  Only 20 gigs?!  @v@
Ooh!  In that case, 5 DVDs would be good enough to back up everything you own in the world.  ^__^

Indeed, before I learned about FOSS apps, picking a good burning software was always a PITA.  Nero and Roxio worked, but had quirks that belied their price tags.  The problem, though, does stem a lot from the burner itself -- if it's particularly crappy (and most laptop burners are), then it will have a high coaster rate regardless (because of physical interruptions to its circuitry or power lines, or what not).

But in any case, since I'm here to SAVE you money, I should point out that in Windows you can try the FOSS app Infrarecorder.  

http://infrarecorder.sourceforge.net/

Not only is it FOSS, it's also a very no-nonsense burning software.  It doesn't take up much space installing frivolous features, it doesn't lock you into particular image formats, and its user interface is simple to fault.  It's literally just drag and burn.  ^^

I wish I could suggest K3B (the Linux answer to Nero/Roxio/Alcohol), but that might be tricky since you can't burn anything from Virtualbox, and using a LiveCD would use up the optical disc drive.  -.-

Won't suggest getting an external burner because it's not all that necessary for a mere 20GB.  If anything, you can wait until your Pop gets his Mac, and then borrow it to burn some decent backups using Toast.  ^^

Yeah, well K8 apparently cannot write DVDs (or maybe I don't have the ability or software to), and I don't trust my external HDD...maybe I should just hand her over to those Geek Squad nimrods and have them make a backup of my data for me. I shutter at the thought of how expensive it might be, though >__<

Don't even think about it!  >o<
Chances are they'll image the HD in some weird format that can only be opened by some backup suite on sale on their shelves.  >v<

For that matter, just buy yourself two or three 8GB USB flash drives and drop your stuff in there.  

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1219782929/ref=sr_nr_p_memory_storage_cap_5?ie=UTF8&rs=3151491&bbn=3151491&rnid=107470011&rh=n%3A541966%2Cn%3A172455%2Cn%3A172476%2Cn%3A3151491%2Cp%5Fmemory%5Fstorage%5Fcapacity-bin%3A00200%7B2.1%20GB%20%26%20Up%7B

Given how ridiculously cheap these things have become, it'll be a far better investment (cause they'll still be useful even after you retire them from backup detail).  ^^

Oh, and C-Chan, I tried that tutorial for using the terminal (under Puppy Linux, which ironically runs in VirtualBox on K8 almost perfectly) and got up to lesson four--that's excellent! Navigating using a CLI is a lot less frustrating than I imagined it'd be; not that I thought it'd be that difficult

Fufu!  Actually, Puppy Linux WOULD run perfectly in Virtualbox, not only because of its low memory requirements but also because it doesn't use any 3D graphics.  ^__^

She's also a great platform to try out the shell,... if anything blows up, she takes like two minutes to reinstall.  ^.^

Very happy that you're already up to Lesson 4!  That's the one that describes the standard *Nix directory layout, no?  That one's considerably useful, since a lot of my early consternations with Linux involved my lack of understanding as to WHERE my software was being saved to.  ^___^

Incidentally, that chapter was the inspiration for that game idea which, I should probably be honest, I'll have to drop.  Call it a moment of euphoria that led me to bite off more than I could chew (again).  ^^;

My immediate computer future lies in smaller more manageable programs.  ^.^

Added after 10 hours 6 minutes:

Oh,... and my new favorite article of the week:

http://bryceharrington.org/drupal/foss-win-paradox

[Bella]

No prob, no prob... remember also that my VPR Matrix is a desktop, while K8 is a laptop. A lot of factors go into hard drive degradation, including over-usage (=excessive writes or defrags), electrical disturbances, physical shock, crappy platter [or needle] metals, and/or intentional sabotage by the OEMs to get you to buy more HDs. ^^

I always thought defragging was helpful for the life of an HD... O_o

In other words, when it comes to modern HDs, it all comes down to luck really -- luck which determines whether an HD will fail in one year or 10. I say modern because older hard drives, apart from being better built, also had much fewer things to write (hence less physical wear and tear).

Yeah, look at my old Windows 98 machine. That thing was used for four or so years, exposed to some horrendous treatment, then put in a musty storage room for a few more years, then last year I got it out and it worked fine...(well, not fine, but I didn't even expect the HD to work).

WOW! Only 20 gigs?! @v@
Ooh! In that case, 5 DVDs would be good enough to back up everything you own in the world. ^__^

Indeed, before I learned about FOSS apps, picking a good burning software was always a PITA. Nero and Roxio worked, but had quirks that belied their price tags. The problem, though, does stem a lot from the burner itself -- if it's particularly crappy (and most laptop burners are), then it will have a high coaster rate regardless (because of physical interruptions to its circuitry or power lines, or what not).

But in any case, since I'm here to SAVE you money, I should point out that in Windows you can try the FOSS app Infrarecorder.

http://infrarecorder.sourceforge.net/

Not only is it FOSS, it's also a very no-nonsense burning software. It doesn't take up much space installing frivolous features, it doesn't lock you into particular image formats, and its user interface is simple to fault. It's literally just drag and burn. ^^

...And about half of those 20 GB is video files and ISO images...and the lion's share of the remaining 10 is hueg digital image files.

But thank you! After four years of ownership it's figures I'd have somebody help me find software that would operate the burner! I have almost all of my files backed up, certainly the most important, on four disks; and it'll take another two for the rest.  

Don't even think about it! >o<
Chances are they'll image the HD in some weird format that can only be opened by some backup suite on sale on their shelves. >v<

For that matter, just buy yourself two or three 8GB USB flash drives and drop your stuff in there.

http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1219782929/ref=sr_nr_p_memory_storage_cap_5?ie=UTF8&rs=3151491&bbn=3151491&rnid=107470011&rh=n%3A541966%2Cn%3A172455%2Cn%3A172476%2Cn%3A3151491%2Cp%5Fmemory%5Fstorage%5Fcapacity-bin%3A00200%7B2.1%20GB%20%26%20Up%7B

Given how ridiculously cheap these things have become, it'll be a far better investment (cause they'll still be useful even after you retire them from backup detail). ^^

Haha...no, I have my external HD and my DVDs made, now I can begin to ponder the thought of reinstalling XP on K8.

*ponders*

I shall have to wonder about this whilst sipping on grey tea, then move out to the veranda to thinkith more on the entire ramifications of the situation. I shall have to consult scriptural and philosophical documents and look for guidance; maybe I'll ask of some learned people to give me direction in my great quandary. Only then shall I return home, draw up a decision tree, find that the decision tree is no help in deciding but rather a well-placed stalling tactic, and then decide...to go to bed, to repeat the process another day. Oh! To reinstall or not to reinstall...that is the question.

BTW, I've commandeered the family computer that belongs to...well, the family, but my dad claimed it a while back, and now I'm claiming it for myself as I always do when K8's on the fritz. DY's an incredible little computer, she has less software installed now then when she was bought. This thing has just enough RAM and HD to comfortably run XP, and has a bootup time of around 25 seconds. She's also proven to be indestructible, having been kicked, dropped, drop-kicked, and nearly fell down a small flight of stairs in her lifetime (if somebody's foot hadn't been well placed), and non of this seems to have phased her one bit O_____o

Fufu! Actually, Puppy Linux WOULD run perfectly in Virtualbox, not only because of its low memory requirements but also because it doesn't use any 3D graphics. ^__^

She's also a great platform to try out the shell,... if anything blows up, she takes like two minutes to reinstall. ^.^

Oh...not anymore, I think I jinxed it. @___@

Oh well, I have a Pupple live CD...I wonder if DY would like to be faster than she's ever been for a short while...?

Very happy that you're already up to Lesson 4! That's the one that describes the standard *Nix directory layout, no? That one's considerably useful, since a lot of my early consternations with Linux involved my lack of understanding as to WHERE my software was being saved to. ^___^

Incidentally, that chapter was the inspiration for that game idea which, I should probably be honest, I'll have to drop. Call it a moment of euphoria that led me to bite off more than I could chew (again). ^^;

My immediate computer future lies in smaller more manageable programs. ^.^

Aha! I thought that sounded familiar!

I'm always for small projects, though...never bite off more than you know you can chew, I always say.

Oh,... and my new favorite article of the week:

http://bryceharrington.org/drupal/foss-win-paradox

...bitter much...? T____T

Well, of course I'm in disagreement. I do think that I'd be more open to getting a Linux-based computer now that I've used OSS software on XP and know that it works as good, or better, than most proprietary stuff. But I'm open to new stuff anyhow, so maybe I'm an exception...

[C-Chan]

I always thought defragging was helpful for the life of an HD... O_o

It is, but only in moderation.  Defragging operates in a a plateau -- reasonable usage will help reorganize your hard drive better and thus minimize writes, but OVERusage (say like a daily defrag run) just causes the HD to write more than it has to (especially if it's only moving around a few file fragments, but has to shift an entire chunk to do it).  This just causes more wear and tear on the HD.  ^^;

Yeah, look at my old Windows 98 machine. That thing was used for four or so years, exposed to some horrendous treatment, then put in a musty storage room for a few more years, then last year I got it out and it worked fine...(well, not fine, but I didn't even expect the HD to work).

If it's fine enough to run Puppy-chan, it's fine.  ^>^

But thank you! After four years of ownership it's figures I'd have somebody help me find software that would operate the burner! I have almost all of my files backed up, certainly the most important, on four disks; and it'll take another two for the rest.

Awesome blossom!  If Infrarecorder helped save the day, guess my mission here is done.  -v-

*leaves forum*

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*returns to forum*

Oh right,... you want the CIOST panel done,... "nau".  -.-'

I shall have to wonder about this whilst sipping on grey tea, then move out to the veranda to thinkith more on the entire ramifications of the situation. I shall have to consult scriptural and philosophical documents and look for guidance; maybe I'll ask of some learned people to give me direction in my great quandary. Only then shall I return home, draw up a decision tree, find that the decision tree is no help in deciding but rather a well-placed stalling tactic, and then decide...to go to bed, to repeat the process another day. Oh! To reinstall or not to reinstall...that is the question.

Oh! just reinstalleth thy darn systemeth!  >v<

Once you have everything backed up (including your internet bookmarks) and literally leave your XP system as an empty shell of its former self (plus all the .net crap that's breaking it), there's no harm in reinstalling (and in fact it's a normal part of life Windoze life, like night and day).  That is,... assuming you have recovery disks, or trust the hard drive rescue partition if it has one.  T__T'

BTW, I've commandeered the family computer that belongs to...well, the family, but my dad claimed it a while back, and now I'm claiming it for myself as I always do when K8's on the fritz. DY's an incredible little computer, she has less software installed now then when she was bought. This thing has just enough RAM and HD to comfortably run XP, and has a bootup time of around 25 seconds. She's also proven to be indestructible, having been kicked, dropped, drop-kicked, and nearly fell down a small flight of stairs in her lifetime (if somebody's foot hadn't been well placed), and non of this seems to have phased her one bit O_____o

I forgot... is DY another laptop or desktop?  ^___^

Speaking of indestructible, how's this for one...?

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2008/08/27/a-real-space-oddity-arrives-at-pc-pro/

Oh well, I have a Pupple live CD...I wonder if DY would like to be faster than she's ever been for a short while...?

OMG, the walk-in closet in DY would be as big as the Astor mansion for Puppy-chan. @v@;

...bitter much...? T____T

Well, of course I'm in disagreement. I do think that I'd be more open to getting a Linux-based computer now that I've used OSS software on XP and know that it works as good, or better, than most proprietary stuff. But I'm open to new stuff anyhow, so maybe I'm an exception...

A year ago I would have been in disagreement as well.  But once you spend time as a FOSS developer, you can't help but pick up a little tough love.  And you have to for the sake of your sanity, cause people open to new stuff (like yourself) or who simply take a few seconds to read posts (also like yourself) are an EXTREME minority.

[Bella]

It is, but only in moderation. Defragging operates in a a plateau -- reasonable usage will help reorganize your hard drive better and thus minimize writes, but OVERusage (say like a daily defrag run) just causes the HD to write more than it has to (especially if it's only moving around a few file fragments, but has to shift an entire chunk to do it). This just causes more wear and tear on the HD. ^^;

This makes sense. I usually do a monthly or bi-monthly defrag

Awesome blossom! If Infrarecorder helped save the day, guess my mission here is done. -v-

*leaves forum*

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*returns to forum*

Oh right,... you want the CIOST panel done,... "nau". -.-'

Darn right!!!!

No really, up until now I didn’t even think my DVD burner worked…

Oh! just reinstalleth thy darn systemeth! >v<

Once you have everything backed up (including your internet bookmarks) and literally leave your XP system as an empty shell of its former self (plus all the .net crap that's breaking it), there's no harm in reinstalling (and in fact it's a normal part of life Windoze life, like night and day). That is,... assuming you have recovery disks, or trust the hard drive rescue partition if it has one. T__T'

Uhm…maybe I should seek scholarly advice…and…go see a psychic…

*sweatdrop*

*stalling*

I better wait until my friend comes over. He has sum crazy technopathic skillz, he once straighten out a surly scanner by laying his hands upon it! I finally got Ubuntu to work in VirtualBox when he was in the near-vicinity of my home!  o_o

Seriously, I have a recovery disk. No place to hide one of those moronic, semi-working recovery partitions on a laptop, y’know. And funny you should call it a common thing in Windows life, those PC performance enthusiasts who’d talk about reinstalling XP every year always mortified me with the thought…

I forgot... is DY another laptop or desktop? ^___^

How easy is a desktop to drop-kick? T__T

I should also add, she was bought at a black Friday sale for around $375. I don’t think I’m ever gonna spend more than $400 on a computer ever again, the cheaper they are the better they seem to work.

Speaking of indestructible, how's this for one...?

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2008/08/27/a-real-space-oddity-arrives-at-pc-pro/

O. M. G. That is PURE awesome!

…not that I’d want a computer I could lose under the piles of paper on my desk…

OMG, the walk-in closet in DY would be as big as the Astor mansion for Puppy-chan. @v@;

Ack, I couldn’t find my Puppy live CD so I loaded up Zenwalk on DY. Still really frickin’ fast…

And I read through lesson 5 and tried out some of the copy/moving/deleting controls for myself (not on any important  files, mind you). I didn’t really get the whole wildcard character thing--I mean, I get it, but I don’t get it in practice.

A year ago I would have been in disagreement as well. But once you spend time as a FOSS developer, you can't help but pick up a little tough love. And you have to for the sake of your sanity, cause people open to new stuff (like yourself) or who simply take a few seconds to read posts (also like yourself) are an EXTREME minority.

Yeah I guess I might be pissed if I knew my work was going to help out the competition. And not XP because, tsk tsk, that’s harmless now, but Vista. Assuming whatever works on XP works on Vista, that is >____<

-----added after a while----

Say, how can I backup my bookmark list when I can't open Firefox? Not that I have many bookmarks, but I've never known how to find those files in Firefox.

*wanders off to go sleep on the notion of reinstalling XP*

[Aurora Borealis]

Those tiny cube computers are so cool! DO WANT! But it's a shame they likely won't be released outside of Japan and they are expensive for such an underpowered computer