Paul B
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Posts posted by Paul B
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Vista is a subject that brings a lot of dread for me. I actually have a copy and did not install it on a new computer I just built because of all the really, really bad things I've heard on various forums. The latest is the Windows Genuine Advantage add-on that continually and I mean continually checks on your software to be sure it is genuine. This is even after you have entered the right key to begin with. Every 30 days or so it checks again and if it doesn't read it as genuine you get shut off. Apparantly, in addition to the normal mistakes a sytem like this can make, about 12,000 copies of Vista were shut off by mistake recently. Vista SP1 is supposed to fix some of this but you will still get "checked" at least every 30 days. This has been a big problem with Dell as Dell and Microsoft are engaged in the hardware - software wars leaving customers without a way to run/fix their computers.
Then there are the tremendously high number of devices and software that simply won't work with Vista, the long boot up time and worse of all it won't play a lot of games which removes a lot of true computer geeks from the customer rolls. Nobody I know who knows anything about computers wants Vista right now. Maybe after all the kinks are worked out.
I've heard a few computer gurus touting the advantages of Vista, but I think they are afraid to cross big Bill.
There was some of this when XP rolled out but not to this extent.
By the way XP SP3 is supposed to be released next year and will be blazing fast compared to Vista - or so I'm told.
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Insurance Consultant - been spending a lot of time as an expert witness on the California fires - a lot of insurance companies don't like me right now.
Before that:
President of a Medical Malpractice Company
Property Casualty Underwriting management jobs with national companies.
Work for myself now and know enough about big corporations to never want to work for one again - not that they would hire me!!
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I don't know too many people who can decipher all the cards. Stick with the 8800 series is what I've been told. They are just more powerful. I think (and I mean think) that some cards use memory but do not have it on board. One 8800 will do everything you want to do - it has for me - at least so far (4 months and counting).
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I didn't realize you could run two VGA cards at once. What it the benefit over a single card with two VGA ports? And if you can run two VGA cards at once, can I run two VGA cards with two ports and support 4 monitors? (At the moment I use two computers each with dual monitors. I would like to upgrade to a single computer but keep the same amount of screen real estate.)
What we were talking about was SLI capability which, if I understand it correctly links 2 video cards together to enhance their speed and definition to 1 or 2 monitors. I don't think you can run 4 monitors this way by itself. I know you can run more than 2 monitors but I think it takes special software in addition to XP. Maybe someone more knowlegeable in this area can respond.
SLI requires a mobo and video cards that are capable and won't work if they are not.
The real drawback of 2 video cards are the heat - they operate at over 60C normally and with 2 together you better have good fans or liquid cooling or your going to have a toasty room and short component life. Additionally, they take up a lot of space on the mobo so you won't have much room for any additional PCI cards.
By the way most newer video cards use DVI connectors so you have to have a DVI capable monitor and cable or buy one of the vga/DVI converters ($10-12). I actually use the DVI monitors (most new LCD have DVI plugs as well as vga) and the picture quality seems better - but what do I know, most of what I've learned is from building 2 on my own.
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Thanks guys it is definitely giving me some ideas. I'm planning on doing this in January, should i look at ddr3 video or will the ddr2 be ok, Last one i had put together was a gamer system, it seems like it keeps you ahead of the technology curve for a little bit longer but who knows anymore. Is the extreme cores all about the same? didgn't know which one is the best bang for the buck you know.
If you are going with two vga cards is it mandatory they be the same card or chipset? I didn't know if i bought one now how hard it would be finding one later say in 6 months or so.
I would definitely look at the DDR3. I'm no expert but I'm told the DDR3 at 256 is faster and better than the DDR2 at 512 depending on the card. I doubt any of us will have the time to tell the difference between the extreme cores - you would probably have to game a lot and not shoot much. Yes, by the way for SLI to work both cards have to be the same - per my motherboard manual.
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Stinger, your setup is almost the same as mine with the exception of the 2 video cards. I initially was going to do this but everyone I know (I know a lot of computer guys - my son is the CIO at a large company) advised that it was a needless expense and a major cooling problem - GPU's run hot. They told me to go with one good card with 256 or more DDR3 and so far so good. YMMV
The GPU is so fast that it caused me to call the manufacturer and complain about what looked to me like a flicker when I was photoshopping some pictures. The guy on the help line almost laughed at me and said "you are using that card for photo-editing? It is for hard core gaming and the flicker is what you used to see as a slower transition (as the edits changed the photo) when you were using a slower card." I finally figured out what he meant when I did the same photo on my single core machine and there was a visibly slower change in the photo as the edit was processed.
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One thing I forgot to add. If you are building a desk top seriously consider a dual monitor setup. They are easy to set up and save me uncounted hours switching back and forth. I have a good 22 as my main and a cheap 19 off to the side. Great to look at 2 programs at a time. Great for phot or movie editing as you can have the picture on one monitor and the tools on another.
Oh my God, I'm a geek!
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Just completed a Mid Tower build. Went with a relatively inexpensive case but put in a 680i SLI motherboard from EVGA, with a quad core intel chip, and 4 gig of ram. Got an 8800GTS video card also from EVGA and 2 500 gig seagate hard drives along with an optical and a 9 in 1 FDD. If you go this way be sure that you get a case that will let you have enough fan capacity and a really good CPU cooler (I went with Zalman). Put torether the whole thing for a little less than $1,600 with parts from New Egg, and Tiger Direct.
Takes a little bit of knowledge, but Tiger Direct actually has tutorials. Mine went together easy with the toughest part routing and organizing the wires.
This is a blazing fast machine and I have not been able to open enough programs to use all four cores and that includes an HDTV card in one of the slots. Figure I bought myself about 12 months on the technological progression. Also suggest you stay with XP when you build - I have heard of too many problems with Vista in these situations - with a good rig you can change later
If this is the way you want to go e-mail me and I will tell you more. One thing that made it easier is to get the Mobo and video card from the same company.
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I'm sure all the ipod snobs will think I'm nuts, but I didn't really know if I wanted one or not so I tried the Trio.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...=M450-4010%20R2
It's 2 Gig, doubles as a flash drive and a personal recorder and is so light you can carry it in your shirt pocket. I put about 100 songs on it plus I downloaded all the old Shadow radio episodes (about 150) and Superman radio episodes. Don't know about battery life because it just plays and plays. Ran it for 8 hours one day waiting for my wife's knee to be replaced and still had enough volume to make my ears bleed. Controls are a little tiny, but they work and it is super easy to load - no special big footprint software and will synch with Windows Media player or just load the files from my music direct. When I'm on a plane my noise cancelling earphones work great and the sound quality is as good as my tin ear can discern.
Price is right and mine just keeps on going.
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I've used Gun Kote on several of my guns and prefer it over blue or chrome. Plus I can do it myself. I use the flat black Gun Kote, degrease the parts really well - use a lot of acetone in a pan and handle the parts only with nitril gloves after that. Heat them to about 175-200 degrees and apply the Gun Kote with an air brush. Then bake at 350 for about an hour. The finish I get is hard, doesnt chip and you have to really work to rub it off (sand paper). Don't get it on the rails (mask them off) or you will be shooting thousands of rounds to wear it down or a lot of fine sanding (one way to tighten up a used gun). You can always redo the coating by steel wooling the finish and go through the process again, but it will build up. Lasts much longer than blue and has a great look in flat black. Also with the flat black small scratches can be covered up with instant blue and are invisible - found that out when I changed front sights and had to remove some of the finish.
As for chrome it is obviously more durable, but the flat black actually helps my sight picture an I just like a black gun.
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There always seems to be one stage like this at the Nationals. Since I'm both big and tall I have a real predjudice against them because, at best, they will slow me way down as I try to fold up my body into the shape desired by the designers and at worst I just have to take procedurals.
At some of the Nationals in the 90's it was always per shot so we are living in a kinder and gentler world now.
I guess fitting one's self into a confined space is a valid test of practical shooting, but putting a rear fault line which you would naturally put your feet over in prone or kneeling, without actually knowing it, is really just a "gotcha" by the stage designer - one they can laugh over later and brag about how many shooters couldn't do it. If shooting from a confined space is what is desired by the designer then put up a wall at the back to limit movement. Otherwise no rear fault line!
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I recently had a similar experience with my credit card. 2 charges for only $4 each to an online dating service. The credit card company called me and I went through the drill of a new card, affidavit and all that crap, but I wonder about the $4 charge. Was somebody testing the water with the small charge or did someone simply transpose a number at the credit card company? Guess I'll never know.
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I'm really a belt and suspenders type. Most of my working life is on the computer. I have 2, 500 gig drives in my computer but run them as JBOD. I back up everything from one drive to the other every day and then I also back up everything to an external, then I make DVD's and once a week I use the external to burn everything to my 4 other computers. Oh, by the way a copy of the dvd's goes to my safety deposit box every month.
Do you think this is too much???
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According to the GV it has been done and is going to expand.
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Hope I'm not bringing up a negative because I would love to see a WS in the US but there may be a substantial "hidden" expense. What about the IPSC drug testing programs. I believe the initial costs of the tests were at least $200 each. We would have to get a real deal from someone to have any sizeable number of them done if IPSC requires them (and I believe they will). If you do 100 of them, that is easily $20,000+ and I don't know who pays?
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I'm guessing, though, that Plastic Fantastic means that Para LDA's, Sigs, CZ's and Beretta's need not apply?
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It was interesting to hear about those using a MDL 29. My brother has a 29 modified to use .44 Auto Mag brass in a moonclip. They use the .45 moon clip and are not floppy at all. Plus he makes the brass from .308 or 30.06 brass which means he can adjust the length. Just an oddity, but an interesting one.
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Just upgraded to Dish Network HDTV for $149. They don't have as many HDTV channels as Direct TV yet, but they will. The receiver I got has 2 tuners. 1 HDTV and the other regular TV. Came with the radio remote for the second tuner. Also records like Tivo 120 hours of regular TV and 30 hours of HDTV. Also has an ethernet connection so I can network it in with the rest of my house. So far So good.
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I'm glad I'm not alone in my weakness for the heat. It just isn't fun anymore no matter how much I drink. About 15 years ago I CRO'd a stage at Area 5 and it was over 100 in a new white gravel pit. All of us on the stage got way overheated and ever since then I cannot take the heat. Can you be sensitized like that and then have a permanent weakness in that area?
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Leave out the "muzzle" and "finger" so we won't be sued in the event of an accident caused by them.
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ebay
in What I Hate
I have avoided both E-Bay and Paypal from the start because I heard of their high handed practices. Now there are comments circulating on several forums that the blush may be leaving the E-Bay rose for a lot of other reasons.
Sniping: programs that allow people to bid at the very last moment for $.01 more than the last bid.
Bidding up your own product, either directly or through "friends."
Failure to perform - bid with no reserve, but then refuse to sell - item shows up later.
Items bought and resold immediately before they are even delivered.
Fraud by sellers
I know, E-Bay is suposed to police most of this but it still happens and a lot of people get screwed.
I don't think E-Bay will be going out of business anytime soon but I think that more potential customers are more wary than they were and this is another example why.
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Not to hijack a thread, but I also hate it when there is only one register open with 5 people already in line. I've actually left a full cart of groceries in the line and walked out. Hope they got the ice cream back into the freezer quickly.
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Have all the sympathy in the world for you. Had mine broken up twice on one side and once on the other. That was after 4 weeks with a stint in that felt like a garden hose. Finally the Doc said they were all of the size that would pass. 8 Months later I passed the largest piece which was about 4.5mm. Felt bad the whole time.
My Doc said trying to figure out the dietary cause was probably not going to help. He just said drink lots of water and no soda, tea or coffee. I even tried for beer and/or cranberry juice and he just laughed and said stay with water only. He said his business is virtually all in the summer time when people get dehydrated and thats how he plans his income and vacations. This held true since when I got mine in August there was a waiting list for the lipo machines, but later in the year for the second go around it was easier to get in. Since that experience, I drink at least a gallon of water a day - every once in a while a Belvedere.
Good luck and try to stay on the good drugs. I had to grit it out since the codeine stuff made me so ill I could not take it.
I think this is OK on the hate forum because I hated everything about the experience, but I still drinking the water.
Vista
in Computers, Cameras, and Electronic Devices of Any Kind
Posted
Here is the kind of stuff I read about Vista that scares me - specially the comments from systems admin people.
http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/006015.html