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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: HEAVEN: Ancient Geek - the computer thread
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MiceElf
Not your average mouse
# 4389
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Posted
.....What Wes said.... ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) Only he says it better than me, prolly cos he knows what he is talking about.
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What do we want.... Cure for Obesity
When do we want it.... After Dessert.
Posts: 1032 | From: OILOVWOIGHT | Registered: Apr 2003
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Timothy the Obscure
Mostly Friendly
# 292
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
If you're using Firefox, try fiddling with the settings under Tools->Options->Advanced->Network->Settings .
I mostly use Chrome. But the same thing happens with Firefox and IE.
I've tried turning off the firewall and lowering the security levels. Made no difference.
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When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.
- C. P. Snow
Posts: 6114 | From: PDX | Registered: May 2001
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basso
Ship’s Crypt Keeper
# 4228
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Timothy the Obscure:
I mostly use Chrome. But the same thing happens with Firefox and IE.
I've tried turning off the firewall and lowering the security levels. Made no difference.
Sounds like a network level problem. Try looking for a way to reduce your computer's MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit: how many bytes it'll attempt to send at once).
This sometimes causes problems with wireless connections.
Posts: 4358 | From: Bay Area, Calif | Registered: Mar 2003
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guinness girl
Ship's Barmaid
# 4391
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Posted
I want to design a leaflet/invitation for a fundraising event that, while not needing to look 'professional', at least should look like it wasn't put together in Paint (currently my only option!). Can anyone recommend any free design software that I might be able to download/use?
Posts: 463 | From: Leeds, England | Registered: Apr 2003
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monkeylizard
Ship's scurvy
# 952
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Posted
I don't know how complex your invitation is needing to be, but could you do it with Word? If you don't have office, you can use free OpenOffice.org or GoogleDocs to make a document. I know Word can handle borders, fancy scripts, columns, graphics, etc. I'd suspect OpenOffice would do very similar things.
A more advance piece of software for document design would be something like Microsoft Publisher, but I don't know of any freeware clones of that one.
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. ~ Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903)
Posts: 2201 | From: Music City, USA | Registered: Jul 2001
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Otter
Shipmate
# 12020
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Posted
Check for free trial versions of Adobe InDesign or Quark XPress if you want to try one of the big guns.
The key isn't so much software as execution: The Otter Pup put together a nice brochure in Pages, the word-processing application in Apple's office suite, and I've made a couple total failures (among my successes-they weren't all flops) using InDesign. InDesign does make it easier to do the things I want, but a basic brochure should be doable in Word or whatever.
Think about the things that say "cheesy" to you, and how you might be able to avoid them.
Put all your text into (invisible borderless) text frames to give yourself flexibility in moving it around. Centered text is very formal. Don't get crazy with too many fonts and colors.
If you have a little time, check your library for "The Non-Designer's Design Book" by Robin Williams. It's quick and very skimmable, as well as useful in explaining how to make things look good.
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The plural of "anecdote" is not "data", YMMV, limited-time offer, IANAL, no purchase required, and the state of CA has found this substance to cause cancer in laboratory aminals
Posts: 1429 | From: Chicago, IL 'burbs | Registered: Nov 2006
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
I think Otter's book suggestion to be the best advice. Software can give you tools, but design is the key.
Gimp is a free alternative to Photoshop. It has a decent amount of features and is relatively easy to use. Not a complete replacement mind you, but free. And certainly better than paint.
I would advise against using a word processor, especially Word. While they do have layout features, they can be less than user friendly.
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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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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
I've just upgraded (huh) to Thunderbird 3.1.2 and it's draining my memory and generally slowing up my puter. I've poked around the techie forums but to little effect. Any fixes, tweaks, similar experience, anyone...?
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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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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
I've googled 'Thunderbird 3.1.2 upgrade slow' and found this.
Hope it might help.
I used to have a similar problem with Outlook Express when it was compacting files, before I upgraded my deskie from 1GB RAM to 3GB - which truly and spectacularly improved performance ( DELL with 3.2GHz Hyperthread Pentium 4 CPU, Win XP SP3 Professional).
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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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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
Thanks, that's a good (if depressing) link...!
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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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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
Perhaps depressing, but if you read all the posts, the issue appears to have been solved in the end. ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
[ 22. August 2010, 08:47: Message edited by: Wesley J ]
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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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Pasta la Vista
Apprentice
# 15288
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by guinness girl:
I want to design a leaflet/invitation for a fundraising event that, while not needing to look 'professional', at least should look like it wasn't put together in Paint (currently my only option!). Can anyone recommend any free design software that I might be able to download/use?
Maybe take a look at Scribus?
Scribus
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Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
Posts: 9 | From: Deep midwicket | Registered: Nov 2009
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
I didn't find Scribus obvious when I tried it. I use Publisher all the time at both jobs - one producing leaflets and posters, the other teaching it, and thought I'd be able to use Scribus from that knowledge. I loaded it to try to do something in a hurry from home (on Linux) and couldn't. I haven't since gone back in to learn it, but I suspect there's a pretty big learning curve on that one.
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Mugs - Keep the Ship afloat
Posts: 13794 | From: outiside the outer ring road | Registered: Aug 2006
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Alisdair
Shipmate
# 15837
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Posted
@ guinness girl
Scribus is good, but as you note takes a bit of getting to grips with.
The 'Draw' part of OpenOffice functions pretty well for desktop publishing, and is quite easy to get the hang of, but doesn't have the fine control of Scribus and other page layout software.
'Writer', the word processor in OpenOffice, MS Word, Abiword, etc. are all up to the job of basic DTP.
Openoffice is a free download (rather large) see http://tinyurl.com/2g34ak and have a look at http://tinyurl.com/r6ex9 for other open source (and free to use) software packaged for Windows.
Posts: 334 | From: Washed up in England | Registered: Aug 2010
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
Just in the process of doing my first DTP project in years. I started off in Word well actually the first step was to take everything out of Word and put it into notepad so as to remove all the formatting that other people had done. I then did some basic formatting and sorting in Word.
Then I put it into Word but I wanted to do something a bit more complex that a Word document. So I decided to go to Publisher as I have it anyway on my machine.
Firstly for a long word document like I had, do not import it directly! It comes out very messy. Instead I cut and pasted each item separately. Some things just don't work as they should and it took me quite a while to sort out how to do them instead. I mean things like the overflow only sometimes creating new pages or give you that option.
That said I now have a fairly decent document or a I presume so from the fact that the others involved are not writing dozen of emails to me asking for changes. Oh I printed it to pdf to send out to them.
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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TonyK
Host Emeritus
# 35
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Posted
Prior to scrapping them, I need to erase all data (including Windows files) from a couple of old PCs - one so old that it can't read CDs!
I know I could remove the drives and attack them physically, but I was hoping to simply clear/over-write the data so the PCs could, perhaps, be recycled.
A Google search revealed DBAN, but attempts to use it have failed totally, and the website is very obscure(or I'm just not understanding what they are trying to say!)
Have our resident experts any ideas/advice?
Many thanks
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Yours aye ... TonyK
Posts: 2717 | From: Gloucestershire | Registered: May 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Here is one which has received a good rating from cnet. Eraser
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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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basso
Ship’s Crypt Keeper
# 4228
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Posted
Most of the technical people I know recommend dban. It's a bit technical, but I think it'll take care of your disks.
Posts: 4358 | From: Bay Area, Calif | Registered: Mar 2003
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Mr. Spouse
Ship's Pedant
# 3353
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by TonyK:
A Google search revealed DBAN, but attempts to use it have failed totally, and the website is very obscure(or I'm just not understanding what they are trying to say!)
If you've downloaded it from the official site www.dban.org you get a CD image file. You need to burn it to CD as is - look for 'burn image' in your CD writing software and select the .iso file you downloaded.
You then should have a bootable CD - put it in the CD drive, reboot the PC and follow the instructions. There are several levels of security, my preference is for 7-pass if you have the time. ![[Paranoid]](graemlins/paranoid.gif)
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Try to have a thought of your own, thinking is so important. - Blackadder
Posts: 1814 | From: Here, there & everywhere | Registered: Sep 2002
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basso
Ship’s Crypt Keeper
# 4228
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Posted
For the computer without a CD drive, you can follow the instructions here.
Posts: 4358 | From: Bay Area, Calif | Registered: Mar 2003
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TonyK
Host Emeritus
# 35
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Posted
Thanks guys - I followed Mr S's instructions and got that working OK for the newer PC; the floppy drive on my own PC has packed up and the old laptop (Windows 95 so no CD drive) didn't have a modem, so I couldn't download anything to it. I removed the hard-disk drive and physically trashed it - very satisfying...
My thanks again
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Yours aye ... TonyK
Posts: 2717 | From: Gloucestershire | Registered: May 2001
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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
I'm looking into purchasing, at some point, a 10" or perhaps 11" laptop, mostly for better portability than my old and trusty 15.4" laptop.
I've been looking at the new DELL Mini 10 (the one with the higher screen resolution), and now see that DELL do Alienware gaming machines too, having recently bought the company.
An Alienware 11" machine would be much higher specs and better performing than the Mini 10 (or 11), but of course also considerably more expensive.
Do any of you have any experience with gaming lappies vs. netbooks? Netbooks, from what I see with people I know, are good re handling and easier transport, but normally perform worse than a regular 15" plus laptop.
What are your observations? Anyone using an Alienware or similar small hi-specs laptop?
Many thanks, guys. ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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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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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
# 15351
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Posted
My main observation would be that for serious/extended work, the 9" and 10" screens simply aren't big enough (particularly if one assumes a Windows/Office/web bias). So unless ultra-portability is a must have, I'd be looking at things in the 13" bracket (Tosh Satellite Pro, Thinkpad Edge, Tosh Portege, Thinkpad X301 if you're rich etc.) which are still fairly dinky and light, but are a bit more practical (and aren't based on the Atom CPU).
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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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Loquacious beachcomber
Shipmate
# 8783
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Posted
My computer at times runs very loud, as if it had somehow shifted into overdrive.
I have seen some suggestions online that when a computer does this, it is because it is dusty inside.
Is it okay to clean it by blowing air into the front and side vents and fan porthole with a hairdryer at high setting?
If not, how does one clean dust from a computer?
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TODAY'S SPECIAL - AND SO ARE YOU (Sign on beachfront fish & chips shop)
Posts: 5954 | From: Southeast of Wawa, between the beach and the hiking trail.. | Registered: Nov 2004
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
SF,
I would open the case and use a vacuum, preferably one of low power. With the case open, and the computer running, try to ascertain the location of the sound. While dust could be the problem, it could also be the case fan, the fan on the power supply, the fan on the CPU or it could be the hard drive.
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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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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Snags:
My main observation would be that for serious/extended work, the 9" and 10" screens simply aren't big enough (particularly if one assumes a Windows/Office/web bias). So unless ultra-portability is a must have, I'd be looking at things in the 13" bracket (Tosh Satellite Pro, Thinkpad Edge, Tosh Portege, Thinkpad X301 if you're rich etc.) which are still fairly dinky and light, but are a bit more practical (and aren't based on the Atom CPU).
Thank you, Snags. The Atom CPU might indeed bomb, from what I hear - and which is now confirmed by you. I'll give it some thoughts, re portability vs performance, and also re screen size.
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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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DonLogan2
Shipmate
# 15608
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Posted
I`m a bit concerned now, what is the prob with Atom ?
I only use my Acer one for surfing really so will it be something to concern me ?
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“I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth... "
Posts: 359 | From: the very depths | Registered: Apr 2010
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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
Don't think so - they should be ok for that. They're just not very powerful for hi-spec applications like movies or running several programmes at once. Plus they seem to take a hell of a time at start up.
What's your experience then? Have you ever tried watching films, perhaps hi-def ones? Do they run ok?
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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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monkeylizard
Ship's scurvy
# 952
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Posted
I have an Asus 901 9" netbook with an Atom and I added RAM. Running WinXP. It's good for surfing and Google docs, but that's it. YouTube is choppy, as is Hulu. Forget HiDef. It may be better with Linux, but I doubt it.
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. ~ Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903)
Posts: 2201 | From: Music City, USA | Registered: Jul 2001
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The Revolutionist
Shipmate
# 4578
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Posted
My Acer Aspire One netbook can play 720p HD video in VLC video player if the bitrate isn't too high (above around 1500kbps), but HD video via Flash is unusable.
I find the 8.9" screen on my netbook fine for email, word processing and basic web surfing, as long as I'm just working in one window at a time - there isn't room to have two documents open comfortably alongside each other, for example, but I don't often need to do that. YMMV.
Posts: 1296 | From: London | Registered: May 2003
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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
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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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DonLogan2
Shipmate
# 15608
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by The Revolutionist:
My Acer Aspire One netbook can play 720p HD video in VLC video player if the bitrate isn't too high (above around 1500kbps), but HD video via Flash is unusable.
I find the 8.9" screen on my netbook fine for email, word processing and basic web surfing, as long as I'm just working in one window at a time - there isn't room to have two documents open comfortably alongside each other, for example, but I don't often need to do that. YMMV.
Yup, I concur, except that I find I can easily open both, say "My Pics" and an SD card together to transfer quite easily.
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“I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth... "
Posts: 359 | From: the very depths | Registered: Apr 2010
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DonLogan2
Shipmate
# 15608
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Wesley J:
.....Plus they seem to take a hell of a time at start up.
What's your experience then? Have you ever tried watching films, perhaps hi-def ones? Do they run ok?
1 - Mine takes less than 30 secs from cold to surfing(Linpus lite)
2 - Not sure about true HD but my highest def from my newish canon camcorder is fine, if I shut down othe apps, or it can jump occaisionally.
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“I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth... "
Posts: 359 | From: the very depths | Registered: Apr 2010
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
I want to download a YouTube video so I can show it to my EfM group in a non-networked location. Googling "how do you download a youtube video" gives lots of links for sites with instructions, and tell you to download their FLV player to play the resulting download.
Is this the only way? Can I trust these sites, or do you have your favorite site or method to recommend?
Thanks.
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Real Player will install an add-in to your browser which can capture streaming video.
Whether or not you have the legal right to a particular video is another issue.
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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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The Revolutionist
Shipmate
# 4578
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Autenrieth Road:
I want to download a YouTube video so I can show it to my EfM group in a non-networked location. Googling "how do you download a youtube video" gives lots of links for sites with instructions, and tell you to download their FLV player to play the resulting download.
Is this the only way? Can I trust these sites, or do you have your favorite site or method to recommend?
Thanks.
There are various extensions for Chrome and Firefox which add a link on the YouTube page to allow you to download the video from within your browser without installing additional software - I don't know about Internet Explorer, I never use it, but a quick search would probably find something.
Posts: 1296 | From: London | Registered: May 2003
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Gracious rebel
Rainbow warrior
# 3523
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Posted
I am sure there is an easy answer to this one, but I just can't seem to think how to do it.
I have a poster in the form of a word document, that I want to convert to a JPEG image in order to display it on the church website. It actually contains an image itself, but what I want to do is to get the whole document as one image.
I know it is possible because the previous website maintainer put up an image of an earlier version of this same poster (can be seen here if you want to see what sort of thing I am talking about).
What I've got is a word doc with the same top half as the previous one (which is an image) and new details on the bottom half. I want it to appear on the site like a poster (ie all with a white background) - I tried posting the text separately but this gave a pink background for the text (default background in the template I use in ChurchEdit, which drives the website).
If anyone can understand what I am asking, and provide a simple way to convert a .doc to a .jpg, I would be very grateful!!
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Fancy a break beside the sea in Suffolk? Visit my website
Posts: 4413 | From: Suffolk UK | Registered: Nov 2002
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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
This set of instructions will work. However in the past I have used this method.
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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Gracious rebel
Rainbow warrior
# 3523
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Posted
Thanks Jengie, I used the first method for simplicity - or so I thought! Trouble was I had to redo it several times as I'd forgotten that all the little squiggles that Word puts in for what it considers spelling mistakes, and the position of the cursor etc, would all show up on my final version. But I finally got it OK I think, as can be seen here
(My original post above, has generated three hits to the church website fron the Ship - now a certain other Shipmate is getting worried that this may result in a Mystery Worshipper showing up on one of his off days.... )
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Fancy a break beside the sea in Suffolk? Visit my website
Posts: 4413 | From: Suffolk UK | Registered: Nov 2002
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
I have questions about Ubuntu -- is there somebody who could answer a barrage of questions preferrably by email? I'm seriously thinking of making the leap from MS but have some reservations.
Thanks!
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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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Mamacita
Lakefront liberal
# 3659
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Posted
Is it possible to delete an old email address from Outlook? The issue is that if I want to send an email to, say, Joe Blow, I can type Joe Blow into the "to" line and up pops every address the church system has had for Joe Blow over the last 10 years -- joeblow@comcast.net, joeblow@yahoo, etc etc. I have parishioners with as many as three old email addresses in the system, and Outlook is not letting me delete the two old ones. Finding online instructions on how to delete them has been futile. I bought a copy of "Outlook for Dummies" and it just has a lot of gobbledygook about multiple layers of address books but no clues as to how one deletes an old address. It's ridiculous to have to open my (paper) parish directory to find the right one. Is there any hope for me? Or is this a quirk of Outlook with which I am stuck?
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Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.
Posts: 20761 | From: where the purple line ends | Registered: Dec 2002
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Curiosity killed ...
Ship's Mug
# 11770
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Posted
You can set the right one up in the address book and keep that one updated, so when you type in the name or use the drop down arrows you only pick up the most recent version - and that will allow you to delete the old versions from the deliberately saved versions (other than those that Outlook too helpfully saves).
Sympathy, I have the same problem
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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
Nobody here knows Ubuntu?
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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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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
# 15351
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Posted
Ubuntu: depends what you mean by "knows". I've done a test install on some old kit out of curiosity, and then vaped it, so don't really feel that qualifies me to comment in too much detail.
I have another old box here that I'm thinking of Linuxing up for experimental purposes, although I was probably going to go Debian or CentOS. I could stick Ubuntu on it to investigate if it would help.
Probably also depends on exactly how specific your questions are, or whether they're actually more generic Linux issues.
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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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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
# 15351
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Posted
Mamacita: to delete an address from the auto-completion list that comes up, do the following:
- start typing the address until the list shows
- (if necessary) use the arrow keys to highlight the 'bad' entry in the list
- press "Del" / "Delete" on the keyboard
Bosh. Sorted.
If you want to zap the entire auto-complete list then delete or rename the file "Outlook.NK2". Pre-Vista this lives in:
%userprofile%\application data\microsoft\outlook
Vista/Win7 it's normally in:
%userprofile%\appdata\local\microsoft\outlook
but might be in
%userprofile%\appdata\roaming\microsoft\outlook
If you delete it, Outlook will just re-create it and start to re-populate it from scratch (it learns as it goes).
Similarly, if you're moving to a new machine and want to preserve that list, you can copy the file and replace the empty default one on a new machine.
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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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Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
Nobody here knows Ubuntu?
I would not claim I know but the book that is giving me the confidence to change two machines to it is Linux complete Manual which comes with a copy of Ubuntu.
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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swllwmzn
Shipmate
# 12945
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Posted
Apologies if this has been asked before. I have a Sony Vaio desktop about 5 years old and I have 2 problems with it. First it has a partitioned drive, all the program files are on the c drive and despite moving all photos, music and documents to the d drive, it is almost empty and the c drive is so full it is affecting all sorts of things. It seems ridiculous to have all that space on the d drive which I don't seem to be able to use to take some of the clutter on the c drive. Second problem is lack of ram. I bought it typically just before they started putting loads more ram on most pcs. Is there any way I can increase it? I'm getting so frustrated I'm thinking of getting a cheapish new laptop!
Posts: 96 | From: Budleigh Babberton | Registered: Aug 2007
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Amanda B. Reckondwythe
Dressed for Church
# 5521
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Posted
What operating system is your PC? Do you have the original operating system installation media? Do you have the installation media for all applications you need?
If it were me, I would copy all data to a portable drive and then reformat the hard drive, deleting both partitions and creating one large C: partition. I would then reinstall all applications and copy back all data.
This also has the advantage of getting rid of nuisance applications that may have come with the PC but which you don't want. It also will clean the hard drive and especially the Registry.
You should be able to add memory if there are empty slots available. If there are no empty slots, you should be able to buy larger memory modules and replace the ones you have. A computer store can best advise you in this regard, as there are different kinds of memory that may or may not work in any given PC.
[ 14. October 2010, 12:07: Message edited by: Amanda B. Reckondwythe ]
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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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Snags
Utterly socially unrealistic
# 15351
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Posted
Picking up from Amanda ... if it's a Vaio, chances are you'll need to generate your own Restore CDs via a utility/application on the laptop itself. Sony, like most others, are too mean to go to the expense of actually shipping you CDs with the machines now.
Expect to need at least a couple of blank DVDs, or a pile of CDs, to create them ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
On the memory side most manufacturers of generic RAM have "configurators" that will tell you what part numbers you need if you feed them the model of your laptop. Both Crucial and Kingston will do this.
If you don't want to be quite as drastic as a total rebuild, you should be able to uninstall some of your applications, and then re-install them to the D: drive (just give an alternative location to the installer as it runs through).
You've probably also got a whole heap of temporary crud lying around that can be zapped. Assuming Windows, do a Start, Run "%temp%" and delete everything that it will let you (some stuff may be in use). Then go to %systemroot%\temp and zap everything in there in a similar fashion.
Also, check the caching settings on your browser. If you're using an older version of IE, it used to grab a percentage of free disk space for caching, which on large disks is way OTT - just set it down to 50MB or so (it's in Internet Options in Control Panel).
There's probably a bunch of other stuff you can do too, but that generally requires a shufti at the machine.
Oh, and if you want to know where all your space has gone, grab a copy of Jam's TreeSize - there's a free version which will do the trick.
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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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