Entries for Heywood_J

Widescreen monitor - why?

Heywood_J — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:37:24 GMT

I was thinking about upgrading my aging dual 19 inch monitors to something newer and bigger, but the entire industry seems to be moving to "widescreen" monitors. I don't get it. For example, a 19 inch "widescreen" monitor is 19 inches from corner to corner, just like a "regular" monitor, but the "widescreen" monitor isn't as tall (less vertical resolution). Why would you want less?

I just looked at NewEgg and was shocked by the price difference. At 19 inches or less, the prices are about the same for "regular" and "widescreen" monitors. However, a 23 inch "widescreen" monitor can be had for as little as $169, and just over $200 for one of the better quality brands, while a 21 inch "regular" 'monitor (the largest they carry) costs $800 or more.

Apple ads targeting Windows pirates? [Apple ads targeting Windows pirates?]

Heywood_J — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:45:01 GMT

Apple seems to be paying for some strange ad placement on Google. Type in "download windows 7" and you get this:

But if you type in "buy windows 7" or "get windows 7" you don't get the Apple ad link.

in reply to Apple ads targeting Windows pirates?

64 bit has finally arrived ... but not really [64 bit has finally arrived ... but not really]

Heywood_J — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:55:59 GMT

For a long time I've complained that 64 bit CPUs and operating systems have been available for many years but the lack of 64 bit applications and drivers has made it pretty much meaningless. We're stuck plodding along with our 32 bit Windows XP.

So now I'm noticing quite a few computers from well known companies (Acer, HP, etc.) that are being sold with Windows 7 x64 installed. Cool!! They finally "get it". But then I start looking more closely at the specs for these computers (thanks to Newegg who gives lots of info about everything they sell) and in every case I find the same thing: 2 memory slots -- maximum memory supported 4 GB.

WTF?? What's the point of a 64 bit OS if you're going to put it on a computer that effectively limits you to the same 4 GB as Windows XP/2000. I don't get it.

in reply to 64 bit has finally arrived ... but not really

Boycott Opera? [Boycott Opera?]

Heywood_J — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:31:33 GMT

Apparently some people have started a Boycott Opera campaign because of Opera's anti-trust lawsuit against Microsoft. This seems rather pointless and stupid considering that nobody uses Opera anyway.

in reply to Boycott Opera?

Why is Windows so noisey? [Why is Windows so noisey?]

Heywood_J — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:12:07 GMT

After installing Windows 7 I have to say that I like it quite a bit. But there is unfortunately one thing that still hasn't changed since Windows XP (or maybe earlier) -- all the stupid annoying noises that Windows makes.

Start Up, Shut Down, Log On, Log Off, and on and on. Windows 7 even adds some new ones not present is previous versions of Windows. Yes, you can turn them off, one at a time, but you shouldn't have to. Why does Microsoft think that users need to be assaulted with sounds at every action? And the all-time dumbest one is still "Start Navigation". Seriously, why does Windows have to make a clicking sound when I select something? Does someone at Microsoft really think that the sound my mouse button makes isn't good enough and I really need an additional click sound? You've got to be kidding me.

in reply to Why is Windows so noisey?

When is an Administrator not really an Administrator? [When is an Administrator not really an Administrator?]

Heywood_J — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 16:11:21 GMT

Apparently in Windows 7.

I've been playing around with 7057. Performance is good, but when it comes to installing programs or making changes to the system, even trivial changes, it's pretty annoying. Even with UAC set to it's lowest setting, there's lot's of "You need Administrator permission to do this". Although I can just click on "allow" it's still annoying. I check the user accounts and I'm an Administrator and there isn't any higher uber-administrator. So WTF?

One program I installed wouldn't let me enter the serial number ("this is not allowed by security policy - contact your system administrator") until I went into the registry and changed the permission on the appropriate registry key. That will be a lot of fun for the average clueless user.

Frankly, i object to all this "security". It's my computer. Just because I installed Windows, shouldn't mean that Microsoft can make me jump through hoops in order to do things on my computer.

in reply to When is an Administrator not really an Administrator?

Windows 7 - breaking things that work [Windows 7 - breaking things that work]

Heywood_J — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:06:47 GMT

So I restore my system from a backup (Acronis True Image is a life saver). But all my program settings in "AppData" are out of date. No problem. I have a daily backup of those files. So I just drag everything over from my external hard drive. Vista tells me that there's already a folder called "Foobar" and I just tell it to copy everything anyway and I check the "Do this for the next xx conflicts" box. Everything gets copied. Works great.

Then I try the same thing with Windows 7. It silently creates a folder called "Foobar - Copy" and puts everything there. Since the Foobar program expects it's files to be in a certain location -- not a folder called Foobar - Copy, this obviously creates a problem. Not to mention the fact that it did the same thing to the other 27 folders that were copied.

Nice work screwing up one of the really useful features in Vista.

in reply to Windows 7 - breaking things that work

Why "roaming"? [Why "roaming"?]

Heywood_J — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:52:28 GMT

Trivial nonsense I've been wondering about. In XP, program config data is located in:

.......\username\application data\program name\

In Vista its:

.......\username\app data\roaming\program name\

Why "roaming"?

in reply to Why "roaming"?

It's about time [It's about time]

Heywood_J — Thu, 08 May 2008 10:50:55 GMT

PC Manufacturers Embrace 64 Bit Vista

I switched to Vista x64 a few months ago and can't imagine going back.. The biggest problem of course was having to replace some older hardware in order to get 64 bit drivers (and having fewer choices since many companies still do not have 64 bit drivers for their products). Hopefully that will start to change now.

in reply to It's about time

Why the foot-dragging with 64 bit? [Why the foot-dragging with 64 bit?]

Heywood_J — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 01:10:27 GMT

Seriously. This is not a troll. I don't get it.

64 bit CPUs and 64 bit versions of Windows have been available for quite some time now. I just ordered all the parts to build a screamin' new dual-core system. But I'll have to install the 32 bit version of Windows (probably XP but maybe Vista) because there are no 64 bit drivers available for most of my hardware.

But, even worse -- I figured I would bite the bullet, get rid of all my old hardware (sound card, scanner, etc) and buy new stuff -- but there are no 64 bit drivers for most brand new hardware!!!!!

What's the deal?

in reply to Why the foot-dragging with 64 bit?

Switching to Linux [Switching to Linux]

Heywood_J — Sat, 26 May 2007 17:53:49 GMT

But I can't decide on which distribution:

or

in reply to Switching to Linux

Progammers: Please stop using the word "Illegal" [Progammers: Please stop using the word "Illegal"]

Heywood_J — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 20:51:53 GMT

Helping a friend with a computer problem today and I want to burn some files to a DVD. But, Nero won't let me. It keeps saying "Illegal Disk". I find this quite irritating. First, I am given no useful information about what the problem might be. Second, and most importantly, there is nothing "illegal" about the blank disk I am trying to use. I AM NOT BREAKING ANY LAWS.

After further experimentation, I finally determined that my friend has an older DVD burner which apparently cannot handle newer 16x media. Switching to some older 8x disks that I had, solved the problem.

Jeez. Would it kill someone to display more useful error messages? Like maybe "unsupported disk format" or something? At least it would have given me a clue about what was going on.

This nonsense has been going on for too long. Back in the late 90's, many of my friends and relatives bought their first computers, running Winodws 95 or 98. When they would crash, they would frequently display a message "this program has performed an illegal operation and must be shut down". I can't even begin to count the number of panicked phone calls I've received "Oh My God!!!! I did something illegal !!"

Enough already.

in reply to Progammers: Please stop using the word "Illegal"

Windows Media Center Edition on a laptop. Why? [Windows Media Center Edition on a laptop. Why?]

Heywood_J — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 23:21:13 GMT

I've been looking at laptops lately and noticed that they all seem to come with Windows Media Center Edition installed. This seems like an odd choice, since the small screen and tiny speakers of the typical laptop aren't a very good platform for a "media center".

Since I've only familiar with XP Professional, what exactly is "special" about the Media Center version?

in reply to Windows Media Center Edition on a laptop. Why?

Why design Windows (or any OS) like this [Why design Windows (or any OS) like this]

Heywood_J — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 17:42:27 GMT

The other day there was an announcement about some new malware:

"Backdoor.Rustock.B is a back door Trojan horse that allows a compromised computer to be used as a covert proxy. It uses advanced rootkit techniques to hide any files and registry subkeys it creates."

As I was reading about the program, I started thinking "why would any OS allow programs to do this?" For example:

* Uses NTFS Alternate Data Stream to hide its driver (creates hidden alternate data streams)
* Creates a hidden device service %Windir%\System32:lzx32.sys
* Uses advanced Rootkit techniques to hide the registry subkeys it creates and to prevent access to the alternate data streams file.
* Removes its entries from many kernel structures including the Services Control Manager, Object manager, and the loaded module list, to prevent detection.

Hidden services? Hidden registry keys? Hidden data streams?

Forgive me for being naive, but I don't get it. Why would any OS allow these sort of things? Why does any legitimate program need to hide anything?

in reply to Why design Windows (or any OS) like this

Wow. Vista is a lot like Linux. [Wow. Vista is a lot like Linux.]

Heywood_J — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 01:32:45 GMT

Been playing around with Windows Vista Beta 2 for a few days and I find that it's a lot like Linux:

1. There isn't one single thing that's better/faster/easier. In fact, many things are more difficult or confusing because many things are quite different from Windows XP, for no apparent reason.

2. Most of my favorite programs won't run.

3. Most of my hardware doesn't work.

Looks like I'm going to be staying with XP for a long time.

in reply to Wow. Vista is a lot like Linux.

Windows XP 64 - Yes or No? [Windows XP 64 - Yes or No?]

Heywood_J — Mon, 08 May 2006 00:00:14 GMT

Currently running Windows XP on an AMD Athlon CPU. I'm thinkg about buidling a new computer using a 64 bit CPU. Maybe even dual-core.

Should I stay with XP or should I go with XP64? I know there are some hardware issues (lack of drivers), but, performance wise, is there any real benefit to going with XP64?

in reply to Windows XP 64 - Yes or No?

A Better Wikipedia [A Better Wikipedia]

Heywood_J — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 16:50:11 GMT

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

I enjoyed the entry for Windows Vista (obviously not written by a Microsoft employee)

http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista

in reply to A Better Wikipedia

IE vs Firefox on company intranet [IE vs Firefox on company intranet]

Heywood_J — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 03:40:39 GMT

My company has an internal "intranet". When I access it with Internet Explorer everything is fine. If I try to access it with Firefox I get a dialog box asking me for a username and password -- I don't get that dialog box when I access the site with IE.

How does that work?

in reply to IE vs Firefox on company intranet

Uh Oh! Vista Problems? [Uh Oh! Vista Problems?]

Heywood_J — Sun, 24 Jul 2005 12:39:18 GMT

I found this in a message dealing with the IBM vs SCO lawsuit. After stripping oot all the boring stuuf, I was left with this:

Vista is a trademark
"We're going to consider our options and talk to them," he said tersely..."

in reply to Uh Oh! Vista Problems?

Windows .NET Server? [Windows .NET Server?]

Heywood_J — Sun, 24 Apr 2005 16:04:34 GMT

Came across a copy of PC Magazine from May 2002 and there's a big article about servers that contains the following:

"This summer Microsoft will release 32 and 64 bit versions of its much-ballyhooed Windows .NET Server."

Huh? 64 bit Windows .NET Server? Released in summer 2002?

in reply to Windows .NET Server?

Get out of my head! [Get out of my head!]

Heywood_J — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 02:01:20 GMT

I had dream that I was watching TV and as I was flipping thru the channels there was Sathyaish Chakravarthy on one of them..

It must be because he posts the same exact messages here and on Joel on Software.

Holy Crap!! I may have to wear a tinfoil hat to bed!! I am totally freaked out!!

in reply to Get out of my head!

Dec. 7 [Dec. 7]

Heywood_J — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 23:26:23 GMT

In rememberance of that day in 1941 when Pearl Bailey attacked some japanese guys.

in reply to Dec. 7