Posts by MidiMagic

>What does the fan on the back of the computer have to do with CPU usage???
It's quite simple. When the CPU usage is high, it generates lots of heat. When there's lots of heat, the fans kick in.

That is absolutely STUPID.

A CPU doesn't generate any more heat when it is being used more.

It's not like an auto engine. The same parts in it are always powered up and operating at the same speed, whether it is busy or idling. The parts are still being used just as much when the CPU is not "busy." They sit there wasting time with thumbtwiddling operations in Windows at the same high speed, waiting for the user to do something. And the RAM is also running at the same speed.

Disk drives and CD burners are the only parts inside the computer that produce substantially more heat when they are used. And some video cards produce slightly more heat when the image is complex.

The only time a CPU "slows down" is when a laptop goes into power-saving sleep mode. And of course, it stops when you turn off the power.

The factors that most determine how often the fans run are the room temperature and how open the space around the computer is.

Also, there should be quite a delay between any increase in heat generation and the time the fan comes on, because it takes time for the heat to get …

Get rid of this feature!

There are times when ISPs go down. To blacklist someone because an ISP is down is RIDICULOUS!

I can't change my email address without losing a lot of money.

If you use the back button to return to the page with the first unread post link, it is still the copy of the page you saw before you went into a forum. You are looking at a cached page.

Refreshing this page updates the link to the correct location.

This is the problem I was reporting last summer.

What does the fan on the back of the computer have to do with CPU usage???

It doesn't get hotter with increased CPU use. It just sits there doing a repeating loop when it has nothing else to do. The same heat is produced either way.

Now the disk drive is a different story. It will produce more heat with increased use.

I was not referring to the swastika. They used the triskellion in France for one particular corps the French hated.

It usually takes web search engines a couple of weeks to notice new pages.

IE won the browser war solely because it cheats. It comes with Windows.

There is a trick to making stuff fit in a browser-independent way:

Don't put block-object size definitions in the same tag or style that contains surrounding styles (margin, border, padding).

Nest them instead, so you can control which is inside.

FF puts the surrounding styles outside a block-object's defined size. IE crams them inside.

I learned it here!

The attribute align="center" is deprecated in xhtml.

Remember that some ISPs automatically bar displaying html in emails.

Just stick another id on the item you actually want to affect.

These are browser-dependent.

Unfortunately, no on the duration.

Only events can be recorded, not durations.

Remaining at the same web page is not something that is noticeable, especially if the user uses the back button to leave a site. You would have to know when the next page was loaded, IF one was loaded immediately after.

Also, be aware that not all porn downloads are intentional. I once was attacked by a hijacked website that downloaded hundreds of porn popups, while searching for information on the Three Stooges.

The site is a likely indirect source of spyware, as it is a web searcher.

Are you the main user? If not, the superuser settings might take precedence over yours.

If you are in a school or business setting, the sysops control such things.

If the computer has Deep Freeze installed, it resets everything back to standard settings when the computer is not being used.

Your ISP may be blocking that site as a security risk.

Note that many businesses and schools routinely block such sites as a waste of computer time.

There are many things that slow down Internet downloading. Some you can do something about, and some you can't:

1. Things you can do something about:

- Clean out malware (spyware and viruses slow down your computer).

- Don't run more than one malware scanner at a time (two of them waste time keep watching each other).

- Close other open windows. Each open window reduces the time the computer can spend on your download.

- Shut off personal calendars, alarms, and assistants (they use up time too).

- Minimize the number of programs running in the system tray (the icons in the right side of the taskbar - the lowest bar on the screen - they use up time because they run all the time).

- Your processor speed (new computer?).

- Your RAM size (too small, and the computer uses the hard disk to swap stuff in and out, taking a huge amount of time).

- Your hard disk size (if it is nearly full, Windows spends more time loading and saving files).

- Your Internet connection speed (this is the 4.54 mbps - that's 4,540,000 bits per second - the maximum speed stuff can move over your connection - pay more for higher speed).

- Your monitor resolution (too low, and the computer uses up extra time shrinking images to fit your screen - this clobbers movies).

- The use of hard disk data compression …

3 possibilities:

1. Your security settings do not allow JS for the trust level the browser thinks this site is.

2. Your ISP is blocking the use of JS for some reason. If you are at work or school, this is probably the reason.

3. Your JS install is broken.

Some thoughts:

- The user's browser does not have a scripting language you used installed, or has it turned off.

- A firewall is blocking certain kinds of files.

- An ISP is blocking certain kinds of files.

- An ISP is overloaded, causing the browser to time out before loading the content.

- Another web page is using a file with the same name, and the browser is using that, rather than refreshing it.

- An old version of the page is in cache.

- An ad site featured on the page is overloaded. It causes the browser to time out, preventing the rest of the page from loading.

- The content is a type older browsers can't display (e.g. .png or .xml files).

- Cookies are turned off in the browser.

- A cookie is expected to be used by different sites.

IE grabbed the file types when it upgraded.

This is one reason I do not like IE.

I had to reinstall one time, because some dope produced some software on CD with bogus copy protection.

The software ASSUMED that the computer had one or two floppy drives, a hard disk, and a CD drive. So it issued a command to write to the D: drive master directory, so that if the software was not on a CD, it would trash the drive.

For compatibility, my computer had 3 floppy drives: a HD 3.5" drive, a HD 5.25" drive, and a DD 5.25" drive. Thus, the hard disk was the D: drive.

This greedy software erased the master directory of the main system drive, because it was drive D:.

Mine also wasn't there.

If you build a better mousetrap, you'll always have a dead mouse when you need one.

I had this problem, and replacing the mouse cured it.

Go to View and select Print Layout View.

The other views do not show the margins.

Also, you must select the entire region you wish to change the margins in before setting the margins.

The main advantage to the database is the ability to use forms and reports.

Both use the same basic kinds of formulas.

Where there's a will, there's a lawyer's bill.

I can't see how a data format can have a security hole in it, unless code can be embedded in data files.

I was thinking I would like to see an Obama vs Huckabee race. Then Kennedy endorsed Obama, destroying the good points he had.

The Dems preach money for the poor, and the Reps preach money for the rich.

The purpose of letting companies have more money is so they can HIRE more. The Democrats think only government can create jobs (which government has no power to do at all).

There needs to be something in the middle, like money for the good of the country (infrastructure, security, energy, education, transportation, my own wallet and the like).

What is needed is less money in government hands, and more money in the hands of the people:

- Abolish income, property, business, and excise taxes.
- Have a single 10 percent consumption tax that does not tax products necessary for living.
- Prohibit government from spending tax money on nonessentials (such as pro football stadiums and the arts).
- Abolish health insurance for all but catastrophic cases. Then health care costs will shrink to former levels.
- Tax legislators at three times the tax others have to pay.
- Never penalize work.

Back to topic, perhaps:
Demonizing the rich it has been always a good strategy to gain the favor of the masses.
The greed of getting `something for free' is a powerful tool in the hands of those in need to control masses.

The problem is that government gets the majority (72%) of the money. So the government is "the rich."

Isn't that what Democrats always preach, money for the poor? Nothing new there, just a modern version of "Robin Hood"

Robin Hood didn't rob the rich to give to the poor. He stole back repressive taxes from a greedy government.

You know the username and password are too long when you can't log in without making a typo.

What you need to do is refresh the page the "first unread post" link is on before selecting the link.

Also check to see if you have cookies disabled.

The only way to keep the stylesheet from taking over your page is to use inline styles, or classes with your own stylesheet, on the parts of your page it takes over.

True. But there are more troubles than those you mention:

- It causes problems for dyslexic people. making it hard for them to read the text. The change sort of resets the perceived visual image, and the person has to start reading it again.

- It causes trouble with people using mouse trails, by erasing part of the trail. The person then sees the mouse in a position other than where it is.

- Mouse keys users also have problems.

what should i do then? put all the object's characteristics inside the css?

Nest two block objects (e.g. div), one with the defined size, and the other with the surrounding styles. That way, you can control which one is inside in an browser-independent way.

btw: what is quirks mode?

It's what the browser does when it doesn't recognize a specific doctype. Usually it reverts to emulating an early version of the browser (e.g. Netscape 5).

sometimes I wanna take my toaster in a bath

Obvious from your avatar.

Just stick a link on the amhric page, with the link text saying "English" in English.

Changing page attributes to display something different is one thing.

Changing what function a button calls seems to me to be very hard to debug. This is especially true if you are expecting the button to be calling one function, and it is actually calling another one, due to a page attribute modification you forgot about, or didn't expect to happen.

If you use a global variable and a conditional statement to select what the button does, it's amazingly easy to find the trouble.

The grading policy at the college I work at counts off heavily if someone writes self-modifying code or uses page attribute changes to control program flow.

If your client has its own font, then nobody else will be able to see it.

The .gif method is the only practical method. Or you can include the font in the recorded flash video through video editing.

The problem is that the browser can't see any font files on the server, It can use only the font files the owner has installed. So the font must be rendered before the files are set to the client computer. This means an image must be sent to the client computer.

It is a security violation to try to install a font to a computer without the owner's permission. The font files are not yours to access.

If your clients insist, and succeed at doing what they want, a few years in prison might convince them that they have no right to do this.

Use an image file.

If a web page takes control of my browser, I will not be back.

No. That requires a reboot of the computer with the resolution change.

If you can, define everything in inches or percent width/height.

Don't expect images to resize.

If the server is a Unix machine, there could be previous versions stored on it. Replacing a file does NOT destroy the original - it gives it an alternate name.

Look for the setting "Shrink to fit" in the web browser settings. Then look for a setting "set default" to lock it in.

Another program may be changing the settings.

Ctrl allows nonconsecutive columns to be selected. Autofit requires them to be consecutive.

That's because you obviously care little for them staying in business. I, on the other hand, care a great deal :icon_wink:

I wish they had broken Microsoft into baby Bills. Bill Gates is behind the upgrade rush.

Admittedly, Vista does break a bunch of compatibility. But the reasons for that were mostly well founded for the good of the average consumer,

I don't call breaking good software you paid for being "for the good of the average consumer." The buyer of third party (non Microsoft) software is hurt a lot more.

not for the unlikely case that you're stuck on a very old system. And, since XP is still supported, we still cover 7+ years of compatibility.

Nope. We got XP in 2003.

And what about the guy who buys external hardware control software. That has to be replaced EVERY time the Windows version changes.

There's a couple problems I have with this, and to try and stem this in a new direction, I'll bring up hardware. The stuff flipping bits has changed dramatically in the last decade. Going from the x86 and x87 to now having SSE4 brings some dramatic performance differences. Going the opposite direction, however, there are some operations which are no longer supported because they've been superseded by better alternatives. These architectural changes mean that you'll need to update your software, particularly the OS. Or maybe you'd rather hamper this industry for the sake of your experiments that, frankly, everyone else seems …

Here is where the fraud comes in, in a hypothetical example:

Suppose I suddenly need a new program, Blerzal.

Blerzal costs $75. But it runs on only Windows Vista, and requires Excel 2007 to use the data.

So I have to spend hundreds to upgrade to Vista to run Blerzal.

But Windows Vista won't fit in the old computer. So the computer must be replaced.

But now the copy of Microsoft Office 97 doesn't work anymore, because it is not Vista compatible. So now I have to upgrade to Office 2007 to keep Office and use Blerzal.

But before I can upgrade to Office 2007, I have to change all of the Excel and Access files to a format Office 2007 can still read. My Office 97 can't do that, so I first have to buy Office 2003 to convert the files to 2003 format, so I can read them with Office 2007. Then I have to buy Office 2007, so I can use Blerzal.

The only problem is that there are so many Excel 97 files that it takes several man years to convert them all.

Then I have to replace 12 other programs I paid good money for, that won't run on Vista. Three of them can't be replaced, because the companies went out of business. One of them was bought out by Microsoft to eliminate a competitor. One of them was purposely made to not work when Microsoft changed …

If you don't like our software, don't use it. Put your money, or research if you're lacking the money, where your mouth is.

I can't. You drove all of the software producers that make what I need out of business.

That's fine. You're a 1-in-1,000,000,000 user, most likely. I'm quite blessed to have come across someone with your needs. Personally, I like getting new software.

I like new software too. What I don't like is having to replace half of the software I already PAID FOR to be able to install the new software.

My point was simply that, given how much computers have changed in the past decade, much less two decades, requiring a company to maintain something that long is ludicrous. You'll end up with no software companies because they can't afford to stay in business. And then you've completely shut down progress in multiple industries.

If you made upgrades so they didn't prevent the use of old versions, it would not be a problem. Also, remember that some people can't use timesharing systems. Give us a choice of shutting off the timesharing, so the program has control when the critical event occurs.

You already have your old system. Enjoy.

How do I get replacement parts?

Couple problems with this:

1) anything that doesn't time-slice won't have a mouse. If you're not slicing, you won't do well with any sort of interrupt, as you'll basically be running a single-threaded system.

RIGHT! It's always watching the data ports, …

The consumers are the ones choosing to spend the money. Blame them.

Most of them spend the money because they can't keep using the internet, or some ISP or university system, without the upgrade.

Aside from the fact that you're completely ignoring that the upgrade is optional, GM would be overjoyed for people to upgrade their vehicles every 3 years. Some people do.

It is not optional if your ISP says you must upgrade or lose your account.

It is not optional if your boss says "upgrade so your home computer matches the business ones. or be fired." Never mind that you can't afford the $1000 every three years for an upgrade of Windows, Office, and several other pricey packages.

It is not optional if you are unemployed and want to be hired by companies that require experience in the latest versions. And you don't have the $1000 or so, because you are unemployed.

It's corporate geed at the max.

Hm, strange, I seem to recall that our computer labs were donated and that we got free copies of the software we used. Maybe I mis-remembered; it's been a year, afterall.

Big universities get donations. Little community colleges don't.

Huh??? Lets see, Windows XP had some major security holes (as did every version preceding it). If we don't have major upgrades to fix these, it's going to stay more secure? I'm not getting your logic. As to the costs, however, the government has plenty …

A well timed edit, so I'll come back to the first half of Midi's post:

Ok, yeah, upgrading costs money. It's how the companies stay in business. If your software is incompatible or unaffordable, keep your existing system until the upgrade is feasible. That's why many companies have staggered support cycles. If it's still infeasible when it's phased out, odds of anything else getting fixed are slim to none anyways.

This is a huge consumer BILK!!! It should be illegal to bilk consumers this way.

When I buy a good, that costs over 100 dollars, I expect it to work for at least ten years. Not three!

Imagine if GM required us to replace our cars every three years, so they could stay in business. There would be congressional investigations.

If a software company can't stay in business without this form of bilkage, it deserves to die.

I hear so many claims of "corporate greed" that are false. But this is the real thing.

I could understand the costs being higher for a curriculum focused more on programming in specific languages, but the industry moves fast so keeping the curriculum up to date should be an expected cost.

And who pays this cost so the software manufactures can greed more money out of us? Taxpayers and students.

True. The military has a large budget too. And they really really care about having their data secure. Upgrading is probably worthwhile.

No. Preventing major upgrades would …

No. It's too costly for any company. You'd drive them out of business, and then you'd still not get support. A basic idea in software is "he who releases last, probably has the better product". So slowing down the release cycle just ain't gonna happen, or at least, not by much.

So instead, you want scientific research to be hampered, and consumers to be blackmailed into paying for the same product again and again. IT'S WRONG! You don't seem to see that it bilks consumers out of their money.

Do you work for a software manufacturer. If so, shame on you!

In my opinion, the best software is software I can count on to be THE SAME for many years. I DON'T want to buy from the clown who has to rush out a new version every few years. I need LONG TERM stability and sameness.

And 20 years takes software back to the [relative] stone age.

The law could not be ex-post facto. That's unconstitutional. It would have to start with the current version.

But what about those of us who need old systems?

We've only had consumer OSs running time-sliced applications for 1/2 that long already.

Which means we could again get the ones that do not timeslice. It messes up scientific research when the OS is taking its slice for mousekeeping when the critical event occurs.

Besides, after 5 years, if a program still has a bug, odds of it getting …