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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: HEAVEN: Ancient Geek - the computer thread
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Okay, somebody needs to talk me out of scraping Ubuntu off my hard drive and installing Windows 7. I have been fighting with Ubuntu for the last 2 months and every day I find more reasons to hate it. Nautilus, especially, is giving me fits. If I want to open a file with some other program, it doesn't give me a list of programs, I have to figure out what the executable is called, then find it either in //bin or //user/bin. Augh! Many things I'm used to having shortcut keys for, no longer have shortcut keys (example: "replace all" in editor/WP programs that use Nautilus for their dialogues).
Is there something better than Nautilus I can substitute?
Augh!
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Paul.
Shipmate
# 37
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Okay, somebody needs to talk me out of scraping Ubuntu off my hard drive and installing Windows 7. I have been fighting with Ubuntu for the last 2 months and every day I find more reasons to hate it.
Chances are if that's how you feel it's only going to get worse. Some people just don't get on with Linux.
quote:
Nautilus, especially, is giving me fits. If I want to open a file with some other program, it doesn't give me a list of programs, I have to figure out what the executable is called, then find it either in //bin or //user/bin. Augh!
Really? If I right-click on a program I get an "open with" option which has a list of applications I've used in the recent past. At the bottom there's an option "other application" which brings up a dialog which list the applications in the start menu. It does have a "use custom command" option for which you do need to know the underlying path to the program.
Now I use Linux Mint which is based on Ubuntu and this is the sort of thing that they add in to make it more useable by default. But it at least implies that it's possible to populate that list of "other applications". Unfortunately it's probably a bit more work than I'd suggest for someone who's already finding they hate it. I'm frankly a little surprised if Ubuntu haven't done it by default.
quote:
Many things I'm used to having shortcut keys for, no longer have shortcut keys (example: "replace all" in editor/WP programs that use Nautilus for their dialogues).
I suspect you mean Gnome applications. Gnome is the desktop environment i.e. it's the "stuff" and ways of doing things that's supposed to give you a consistent experience. Doesn't always work.
Anyway it's not that these programs are using Nautilus (at least I'm not aware of any that are) it's that they and Nautilus use a common library of routines to do things like draw buttons, menus and file selection dialogues.
Anyway by "replace all" do you mean that you want to over-type all the text of e.g. the filename. If so, Ctrl-A will usually select all the text in whatever input box you're currently in then you can over type.
If you mean a search and replace all occurrences in the text you're editing, then that's Ctrl-H in gedit - which is the gnome editor. But that's not in the "nautilus" part (i.e. file operations) of that program so I'm not sure if you mean that. In OpenOffice it's Ctrl-F - inconsistent unfortunately but then OO is not part of Gnome per se.
Usually applications show the short-cut key next to the menu item if there is one.
quote:
Is there something better than Nautilus I can substitute?
There are other file managers, but as stated above that isn't going to affect other applications such as gedit. I've not done a lot of experimenting with file managers because I usually just use them to move/copy files and open/open with.
If what you're really experiencing is a dislike of Gnome overall - and you wouldn't be alone even amongst Linux fans. The other big Linux desktop environment is KDE. It's possible to install a KDE desktop onto an existing Ubuntu computer but if I had the choice it's easier to start afresh with Kubuntu. Definitely what I'd do is download the liveCD and run it without installing to get a feel for whether you like it any better.
But changing desktop environment will almost feel like you've changed OS and if you did a re-install to get there then that's as much effort as installing Windows 7.
Posts: 3689 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2004
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
A large part of it is dialogue boxes in applications. In Windows these all have the same look-and-feel, and EVERY button has a keyboard shortcut. I don't have to take my hands of the effing keyboard and grab the mouse. I'm sure it's a pain in the ass for programmers to have to write to Windows specs, but it imposes a consistency that to the user is far more important to the user than I had realized until it was missing!
Navigating around in Nautilus has some nice points but also some drawbacks.
Maybe I'll try the Kubuntu disc.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by wilson:
Chances are if that's how you feel it's only going to get worse. Some people just don't get on with Linux.
AFAIK, there is not flavour as user friendly as the big two. Is why Linux is not a real threat to Microsoft or Apple outside of geekdom.
quote:
But changing desktop environment will almost feel like you've changed OS and if you did a re-install to get there then that's as much effort as installing Windows 7.
FWIW, I am running Windows 7 with no issues. The install was smooth except for my having downloaded the wrong driver for my wireless card.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Paul.
Shipmate
# 37
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Posted
OK, yes switch from keyboard to mouse (or vice-versa) annoys me too. A couple of tips:
Look for the underlined letters in the labels. E.g. if there's a button labelled "Do _S_ome Stuff" then Alt-S is the short-cut for that command.[*]
The other thing that's useful is using Tab to cycle through the available controls on a dialog. Doing this should highlight each in turn (sometimes the highlight is just drawing a line around it) and then you can hit enter or space to "click" the button or choose the option. If it's a text-box you can type in it. Sometimes e.g. for menus or in lists etc the arrow keys are relevant too. This can be time-consuming if the dialog is complicated but it should work. Shift-Tab goes backwards.
[*]Apparently there's no UBB code for underline!
Posts: 3689 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2004
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by wilson:
OK, yes switch from keyboard to mouse (or vice-versa) annoys me too. A couple of tips:
Look for the underlined letters in the labels. E.g. if there's a button labelled "Do _S_ome Stuff" then Alt-S is the short-cut for that command.[*]
Yeah, it's just that too many of them don't have underlined letters. I'm trying to think of a dialogue in Windows that had buttons without an underlined letter. I can't.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Alisdair
Shipmate
# 15837
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Posted
I must admit all my commonly used programs running under Gnome come with ample Alt+ shortcuts, e.g. LibreOffice, Scribus, Claws email, Exaile media player, GIMP, etc.
It is okay not to like Linux, and Windows 7 seems alright---I've just put it on my dtrs. laptop, along with Ubuntu 10.10. Horses for courses.
[ 28. November 2010, 18:50: Message edited by: Alisdair ]
Posts: 334 | From: Washed up in England | Registered: Aug 2010
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Jessie Phillips
Shipmate
# 13048
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
quote:
Originally posted by wilson:
[qb]Chances are if that's how you feel it's only going to get worse. Some people just don't get on with Linux.
AFAIK, there is not flavour as user friendly as the big two. Is why Linux is not a real threat to Microsoft or Apple outside of geekdom.
Hmm. I for one am not convinced of that. For me, the fact that you can install the same operating system on multiple computers, without worrying about licensing costs or DRM kerfuffles, is Linux's major selling point. If you accidentally screw up the operating system on one of your computers, it's no big deal, just boot off a LiveCD, recover whatever data you can so that you can use it on your other computers which still have an intact operating system - and then reinstall. Easy.
Then again, I am a computing student. And I have assignment deadlines. I also need to test software on my computers, without worrying about what it might do to my computer if I get it wrong. For that reason, I absolutely cannot afford to rely on having only one functioning computer that might go wrong for reasons beyond my control. I need to have contingency plans against computer hardware and software failure; in practice that means maintaining multiple computers.
Sure, you might believe that your new high street computer with Windows preinstalled may be easy for you to use, and very reliable - but I don't see the point of getting one brand new computer when you can get two or more refurb computers or sets of self-build components from the discount computer fairs for the same price. And Linux is clearly the cheapest OS to install on those computers - so, no contest really.
But then again, I suppose I'm a geek. But it makes me wonder, where exactly do you draw the line between geek and non-geek? I can't believe it's simply a matter of what requirements people place on their computers - because, in my experience, the people who have only the one computer, and who have paid over the odds for it in the hope that this will make it more reliable and easier to use, are the ones who get most upset when things go wrong.
Posts: 2244 | From: Home counties, UK | Registered: Oct 2007
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Alisdair
Shipmate
# 15837
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Posted
The whole Linux v. Windows v. OSX debate really is pretty sterile and pointless.
They are all usable sophisticated systems, each with their distinct pros and cons.
Regardless of the operating system the real issue seems, to me, to be the willingness/capacity of a user to learn to use a system effectively. And once a system has been 'learned' to any extent it takes a major effort of will for many people to be willing to learn something new---'Why isn't it like X, which just does what I want it to?'
Lots of users have neither the inclination or time (and in some cases the ability), to get beyond using the 'On/off' switch and finding their way around a web browser and a word processor. At that kind of level all operating systems are 'hard' to use as soon as anything unfamiliar has to be dealt with.
For me using Linux is pretty much a philosophical and economic choice. It has come on a great deal in the last decade and I have no regrets at all about giving up the Windows world, but that's just me.
Posts: 334 | From: Washed up in England | Registered: Aug 2010
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
The thing I find frustrating about Linux is having to use the separate programmes to do anything. For example, to produce a presentation, I have to manipulate all the photos I want to use in GIMP before I use them in OpenOffice Presentation, having loaded and stored them in another programme altogether.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alisdair:
Lots of users have neither the inclination or time (and in some cases the ability), to get beyond using the 'On/off' switch and finding their way around a web browser and a word processor. At that kind of level all operating systems are 'hard' to use as soon as anything unfamiliar has to be dealt with.
This looks an awful lot like you're patronizing me.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jessie Phillips:
But then again, I suppose I'm a geek.
This says it. My 90 year old grandmother navigates Windows with much ease and little help. I do think she would have been as comfortable on a Mac and do not think the same could be said for Linux.
It can be difficult for the computer literate to accurately asses usability for those with less experience. I find this true for myself, I must constantly remind myself the people asking for my help do not have the same experience I do.
Not that I am putting myself at your level or the level of most of the answerers on this thread.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alisdair:
The whole Linux v. Windows v. OSX debate really is pretty sterile and pointless.
I do not debate better in the sense of overall superiority. I do think better can be assessed in terms of experience and need for a given individual. This will produce different results for different people. And that may change for the same person over time.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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AdamPater
Sacristan of the LavaLamp
# 4431
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
The thing I find frustrating about Linux is having to use the separate programmes to do anything. For example, to produce a presentation, I have to manipulate all the photos I want to use in GIMP before I use them in OpenOffice Presentation, having loaded and stored them in another programme altogether.
Do you mean to say that you use PowerPoint to do all of that? Or that you present things in whatever-that-thing-is-that-I-don't-remember-the-name-of-that-Windows-opens-images-with??
[Windows confuses me, and always has. (I once raised laughter over coffee at work when I bemoaned the lack of a "nice, friendly unix shell prompt".) I think familiarity must be the key because I think I only operate by following my nose - I'm lousy at teaching my family about computers as a result.
I have Ubuntu installed on a netbook, which appears to me to operate without any issues. Unfortunately my inability to appreciate the issues makes it hard to offer assistance. Since MT clearly isn't clueless about computer stuff.]
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Put not your trust in princes.
Posts: 4894 | From: On the left of the big pink bit. | Registered: Apr 2003
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by AdamPater:
quote:
Originally posted by Curiosity killed ...:
The thing I find frustrating about Linux is having to use the separate programmes to do anything. For example, to produce a presentation, I have to manipulate all the photos I want to use in GIMP before I use them in OpenOffice Presentation, having loaded and stored them in another programme altogether.
Do you mean to say that you use PowerPoint to do all of that? Or that you present things in whatever-that-thing-is-that-I-don't-remember-the-name-of-that-Windows-opens-images-with??
My reaction as well. I prefer to use more directed programs as I get better results that way.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alisdair:
The whole Linux v. Windows v. OSX debate really is pretty sterile and pointless.
Yep. I use all three of them pretty much every day and have for years. No desire to give up any of them.
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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Alisdair
Shipmate
# 15837
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Posted
Mousethief, my apologies if that part of my comment appeared patronising. It is simply an observation that seems to apply to how we deal with having to learn anything that is relatively complicated---we'll do it once, but to do it again (without a driving sense of need and purpose), is asking a lot for most people, e.g. the controls for a car are pretty nearly universally common, no one wants to have to learn to drive more than once.
I would reckon that it doesn't matter what operating system people start out with, that will become their 'norm' and any other system that does not adhere to that norm will generally be regarded as difficult and/or inferior; unless, as already said, the person concerned has a real desire to learn something new.
Hence, Linux has an uphill struggle in the mass market because of the above syndrome, and because of it's reputation as being inherently difficult.
Now I probably appear even more patronising, and pompous as well. Sorry. ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif)
Posts: 334 | From: Washed up in England | Registered: Aug 2010
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Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alisdair:
I would reckon that it doesn't matter what operating system people start out with, that will become their 'norm' and any other system that does not adhere to that norm will generally be regarded as difficult and/or inferior
I would say rather than a lot of people are simply not interested. Using computers is something they have to do to perform their jobs, a mechanical skill like reading or writing. It's the Others (who are probably the ones posting in this thread) who actually see it as nuanced. I mean, to me a car is a boxy thing with wheels that goes vroom. Yet I'm told some people can get quite enthusiastic about the different sorts.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
Well I like the ability to scare up a text-based prompt at the touch of a hotkey (although "terminal" is a bit of wishful thinking, seems to me), and you do get a modicum of power over how the machine is set up. I think maybe it's just the nautilus system that is frustrating me, plus a lack of a little imagination on the part of the software writers. There's no reason an open-source program can't be just as user-friendly as any for-hire program on Windows or MacOS.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alisdair:
I would reckon that it doesn't matter what operating system people start out with, that will become their 'norm'
So I'm stuck with George III then? Bugger.
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Ken
L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle.
Posts: 39579 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2002
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
My original computer chops were earned building DOS boxes of used parts, when the "internet" was something that university researchers and military types used (Archie? Veronica anyone?), and the best the hoi polloi could do was the BBS repeater services (FIDO, RIME). My first 9600 baud modem was a cause for celebration! I was one of the guys who passed around the article from one of the PC rags with the headling, "Just say phooey to GUI".
But that was a couple of days ago, and I've been coddled by the ease of use of Windows. I also feel that expecting the user to change to meet the wants (or more, laziness) of the software engineers can be taken too far. Computers are tools for our use, not vice versa.
So, Linux programmers, give me an interface that actually meets my needs as a power user of word processing / text editing. What's that you say? "No"? Fine. SUDO give me an interface.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
This thread seems the best place to share these musical instructions for cleaning a laptop fan.
I think they will benefit everybody. More particularly if you happen to have an HP Pavilion. If, as is the case in our family, you have three of the exact model featured, you will be reduced to tears.
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Alisdair
Shipmate
# 15837
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Posted
quote:
Okay, somebody needs to talk me out of scraping Ubuntu off my hard drive and installing Windows 7. I have been fighting with Ubuntu for the last 2 months and every day I find more reasons to hate it. Nautilus, especially, is giving me fits. If I want to open a file with some other program, it doesn't give me a list of programs, I have to figure out what the executable is called, then find it either in //bin or //user/bin. Augh! Many things I'm used to having shortcut keys for, no longer have shortcut keys (example: "replace all" in editor/WP programs that use Nautilus for their dialogues).
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but a right click in Nautilus produces a drop-down menu that includes 'Open with...'
Any file type can have executables associated with it via 'Properties>Open with' in the same drop-down.
Having said that Nautilus is not the most user driven file manager. Konqueror is/was highly configurable and runs in Gnome (it'll drag in all the KDE gubbins that it needs, so not the most lightweight option); and there are numerous other file managers, some very much keyboard driven---can't recommend a particular one, though Gnome Commander (Krusader is the KDE equivalent), may tickle a nostalgic fancy; a GUIfied version of Midnight Commander (a clone of Norton Commander).
[ 29. November 2010, 18:49: Message edited by: Alisdair ]
Posts: 334 | From: Washed up in England | Registered: Aug 2010
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
It's the Others (who are probably the ones posting in this thread) who actually see it as nuanced. I mean, to me a car is a boxy thing with wheels that goes vroom. Yet I'm told some people can get quite enthusiastic about the different sorts.
Can't get too excited about OS flavours, not that much of a dor-, um, dwee-, hmmm, enthusiast.
Get me started on applications, then well...
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
Because unlike the rest of you, obviously, anything I produce is for use teaching, pretty much and most powerpoints are for a 5-10 minute intro. The fact that Linux wants to make me understand programming to produce beautiful results is not good when actually the 5 minute intro is only 5 minutes of the 5 hours lessons I'm putting together that evening.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alisdair:
Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but a right click in Nautilus produces a drop-down menu that includes 'Open with...'
Well, it does open a dialogue that includes the words 'Open with...' but there is no list of suggested applications. Only a 'browse' button which leads to an 'open file' dialogue, requiring me to surf over to //bin or //usr/bin and find an executable.
quote:
Having said that Nautilus is not the most user driven file manager. Konqueror is/was highly configurable and runs in Gnome (it'll drag in all the KDE gubbins that it needs, so not the most lightweight option); and there are numerous other file managers, some very much keyboard driven---can't recommend a particular one, though Gnome Commander (Krusader is the KDE equivalent), may tickle a nostalgic fancy; a GUIfied version of Midnight Commander (a clone of Norton Commander).
Is it possible to try out one of these in such a way that if I want to go back to Nautilus, I don't have to spend hours and hours?
[ 29. November 2010, 19:55: Message edited by: mousethief ]
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Alisdair
Shipmate
# 15837
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Posted
@Mousethief -- I have a sneaking suspicion we may be talking about different things. Nautilus is the default file manager for Gnome, click on any of the locations under the 'Places' menu and it will open. You can try alternatives through the 'Ubuntu Software Centre' in the 'Applcations' menu (at the bottom of the first level), or through Synaptic (package manager) in System>Administration. All can be uninstalled via the same routes.
However, are you in fact talking about the Gnome Window Manager, i.e. when you right click on a file on your desktop? In which case, as you say 'Properties>Open with' and then set the preferred default executable, others listed there will be displayed in the 'Open with...' dialogue, when you right click on a file. If a file type has no default executable associated with it you will have to set your own, as you say, but it should only need doing once
There are other window managers you can try, none of them will disable Gnome. You select your preference at the login screen. Someone else has already suggested KDE, which is hugely more configurable (possible at the expense of simplicity). You can install it alongside Gnome. Beware, it will drag in a huge amount of associated software; lots of stuff you may have no interest in, though I think there is a way to install a much more minimalist setup.
Personally I've not used KDE for some time so can't be much more use on that score.
Kbuntu is the KDE version of Ubuntu. You could try installing that, but I don't think Canonical shares much love on it.
[ 29. November 2010, 20:16: Message edited by: Alisdair ]
Posts: 334 | From: Washed up in England | Registered: Aug 2010
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Alisdair:
However, are you in fact talking about the Gnome Window Manager, i.e. when you right click on a file on your desktop?
Not on my desktop. In a Nautilus directory window. I don't have any files on my desktop. That's slovenly.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
I'm getting to grips with Word 2010 and actually finding it an improvement on Word 2003, particularly because you can customise the toolbars.
However one feature I find really frustrating is that when I open a document in "review" format, the "formatting" option is systematically checked (so the review version displays all formatting changes by default, which I don't want). Unlike other changes in the "options" menu under "review", unchecking "track formatting" is undone when Word is closed.
Can anyone deliver me from this body of death?!
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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rufiki
Ship's 'shroom
# 11165
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Posted
I have Nautilus 2.22.5.1. If I right-click a file, one option is "Open with Other Application..." If I click on that, it gives me an actual list of applications (many of which are completely inappropriate for that particular file, so it can't be something I've set up previously).
Posts: 1562 | Registered: Mar 2006
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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
Anyone else noticed that he latest Skype update of this weekend force-installed, and turned into default browser, Google Chrome? ![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
In their Q&As Skype state that they want to give users the choice of free browsing, which seems to imply Google Chrome (and not e.g. Firefox). FFS!!
Any comments?
In addition, I'm really not happy that all my contacts are now shown with their avatars as it uses up lots of free space in the Skype main window, and I can't see all of my (few) contacts at a time, anymore. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
Any thoughts to this? Many thanks.
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Be it as it may: Wesley J will stay. --- Euthanasia, that sounds good. An alpine neutral neighbourhood. Then back to Britain, all dressed in wood. Things were gonna get worse. (John Cooper Clarke)
Posts: 7354 | From: The Isles of Silly | Registered: May 2004
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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
Oops - ok, forget point 2 - just found you can disable the contact list/profile avatars..
But my first rant stands!
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Be it as it may: Wesley J will stay. --- Euthanasia, that sounds good. An alpine neutral neighbourhood. Then back to Britain, all dressed in wood. Things were gonna get worse. (John Cooper Clarke)
Posts: 7354 | From: The Isles of Silly | Registered: May 2004
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
Um, I'm having a weird problem this morning. When I log into my regular sites (including my e-mail) all of a sudden, my username and passwords don't match. Even if they are remembered on my computer and I just enter it.
So far, I seem to be on the Ship. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Any ideas?
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by jedijudy:
All of a sudden, my username and passwords don't match.
Usernames and passwords that are "remembered" on websites are stored in cookies -- small text files that contain information that is fed to websites when you visit them.
You've either lost your cookies -- i.e., the files were somehow deleted or corrupted -- or your logins and passwords have been discovered by someone who has gone and changed them on you -- or perhaps by a virus.
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"I take prayer too seriously to use it as an excuse for avoiding work and responsibility." -- The Revd Martin Luther King Jr.
Posts: 10542 | From: The Great Southwest | Registered: Feb 2004
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
Thanks, Miss Amanda.
I went through customer service with my ISP, and changed my password. Then, when I could finally access my e-mail, I found out that several of my accounts on different sites had "suspicious activity", and I had to change those passwords, too. So, something was going on. ![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Can a bunch of different accounts like that all be compromised in one night? Is this normal? Should I change all my passwords everywhere?
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
First thing jj, make certain you do not have a virus or spyware. Then change your passwords.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Jedijudy:
Yes accounts can be attacked like that in less than an hour. Once an initial account has been broken, getting into other accounts of the user is normally pretty easy.
Second follow Lilbuddha's advice, make sure you have up to date protection software and THEN change your passwords everywhere.
Jengie
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"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
Thanks Miss Amanda, Jengie Jon and lilBuddha. I did an update on my AV, and ran a full scan. There was no virus activity or spyware detected. I did get an e-mail from one of my accounts that someone tried to access that account while I was at work, the scurvy dog.
All my passwords are set to things that the normal person would never guess. Hopefully this will be the end of the hacking. (I hope. I don't have time for this at Christmas time!!)
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
jj, it might be good to run a second program, an anti-spyware program.
Regarding your passwords, secure is not what you may think. Here is a decent article about the matter.
However, many passwords are simply stolen.
That more than on of your accounts was compromised seems to point heavily to access of your computer.
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Alex Cockell
Ship’s penguin
# 7487
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
My original computer chops were earned building DOS boxes of used parts, when the "internet" was something that university researchers and military types used (Archie? Veronica anyone?), and the best the hoi polloi could do was the BBS repeater services (FIDO, RIME). My first 9600 baud modem was a cause for celebration! I was one of the guys who passed around the article from one of the PC rags with the headling, "Just say phooey to GUI".
So, Linux programmers, give me an interface that actually meets my needs as a power user of word processing / text editing. What's that you say? "No"? Fine. SUDO give me an interface.
Text editing a big part of your role, to the point of dealing directly with textprocessing commands in products like WordPerfect? Have you thought about using TeX and LaTeX?
Should be in the repos.
Posts: 2146 | From: Reading, Berkshire UK | Registered: Jun 2004
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
That more than on of your accounts was compromised seems to point heavily to access of your computer.
![[Frown]](frown.gif) That's what I'm afraid of. It's hard to believe how malicious some folks are.
Thanks for the good advice.
(I think I'll change my passwords. Again.)
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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basso
Ship’s Crypt Keeper
# 4228
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Posted
What are people using for an RSS reader these days?
I've been happy with Bloglines for ages, but they just rolled out the new interface after ask.com turned it over to the new operators.
The new interface is so slow that it's unusable. That's probably down to an elderly laptop and an unlucky combination of programs. (Linux/ppc; Firefox). I know that FF is notoriously slow to run Javascript. The new bloglines interface is so heavy on JS that it keeps throwing error messages.
I didn't really like Google reader when I test-drove it. Any other candidates out there?
Posts: 4358 | From: Bay Area, Calif | Registered: Mar 2003
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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
# 15351
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Posted
I'm using FeedDemon - it runs independently, sits in the system tray, and seems OK, but I'm not a huge RSS user, and I suspect if I was I'd either need to learn to drive it with more sophistication, or find something else.
Also not sure if it's Windows only (because I've not needed to check).
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Vain witterings :-: Vain pretentions :-: The Dog's Blog(locks)
Posts: 1399 | From: just north of That London | Registered: Dec 2009
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
I'm wondering if my (Voyager 210) router has died. It lights up OK but the power light and the internet light just flicker interminably and I can't connect to the internet. I'm back on dial-up and trying to find a way of making it work.
I've tried turning it on and off - no difference.
I've tried swopping the power supply - no difference.
I've tried inserting something into the reset bit - no difference.
Any suggestions (bearing in mind I'm on dial-up so it's all going to be painfully slow and expensive)? Am I looking at buying another router? I don't have anywhere local to do this and the ones I've seen all seem to be wireless anyway.
[ 20. December 2010, 15:30: Message edited by: Ariel ]
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Ariel,
Does the voyager allow for firmware updates? Could be screwed up internal software.
Could the microfilter be the problem?
If you must by a new one, most wireless also have wired ports as well.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Thanks, lilBuddha. The microfilter was fine. It was just as if the router was jammed. It had been acting a bit strangely for a while now anyway so I bought a new one today.
They don't make it easy for non-technically-minded people to set these up - you're presented with a string of meaningless acronyms and asked to set the right configuration; but thanks to the ISP helpdesk I got there. Access currently varies wildly from dial-up speed to twice as fast as it was before, but I have internet for Christmas.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
Any recommendations for a good free anti-virus programme? I have AVG, but it seems to be slowing internet access to a crawl, even with Link Scanner disabled.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
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Paul.
Shipmate
# 37
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Posted
I use Avira AntiVir. I switched to it a while back when AVG failed to detect a particular virus.
Posts: 3689 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2004
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Drifting Star
Drifting against the wind
# 12799
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Posted
I've tried a few - including AVG - but I always go back to Avast.
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The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Heraclitus
Posts: 3126 | From: A thin place. | Registered: Jul 2007
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Another for Avast. Like it well enough to buy the full version.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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