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  1. Mercutio

    Cold

    The best part for me is when the wiper fluid in my car freezes and I get stuck behind a salt truck going to work four days in a row.
  2. Mercutio

    Your first computer?

    My family always had computers around the house. I remember an Apollo workstation from back when I was a kid. The first computer that was absolutely meant to be a "family" computer rather than part of my father's studies or work was a 4.77MHz XT clone. It had a 10MB hard drive and dual 5.25"...
  3. Mercutio

    How to connect by RDP from a Linux box to a Windows Server 2012?

    I'm guessing that if a non-Windows client is having an issue, it's probably because the option to only allow connections using Network Level Authentication is turned on someplace. I'm definitely able to connect to vanilla Server 2012 machines with rdesktop and a variety of Android clients though.
  4. Mercutio

    PC Gaming = World of Suck

    The way the system Youtube has for identifying music works, it basically flags everything it can identify and report it to a content owner. If the content owner makes an issue, it's an issue for all matching content. It's a pretty lousy system but anything less would be a piracy holocaust as far...
  5. Mercutio

    PC Gaming = World of Suck

    From what I've read, it's apparently because some music licensing company that represents video game music composers is suing one of the major "Let's Play" video channels. Or something. The companies that actually make/own/publish the games themselves seem to be saying that they don't have a...
  6. Mercutio

    PC Gaming = World of Suck

    Youtube, apparently in an effort to suck even more, has decided to crack down on "Let's Play" videos as a violation of terms of service. The thing is, I actually LIKE Let's Play videos quite a bit. They're how I've been able to experience games like Portal and how I've learned about some other...
  7. Mercutio

    PC Gaming = World of Suck

    Youtube, apparently in an effort to suck even more, has decided to crack down on "Let's Play" videos as a violation of terms of service. The thing is, I actually LIKE Let's Play videos quite a bit. They're how I've been able to experience games like Portal and how I've learned about some other...
  8. Mercutio

    Quiet server build

    A machine like that will find a home regardless of how long dd borrows it for his own purpose. I run across places where I wish I had even a spare i3 or even a Core 2 Quad machine probably weekly, and I can think of at least a couple of my customers who probably should migrate off their old...
  9. Mercutio

    How Secure Is My Password?

    In theory, that means it's a client-side script that's just counting the number and range of characters you're using. That's pretty trivial as far as code goes.
  10. Mercutio

    Media Player Appliances

    Mega-improvements to Chromecast were launched yesterday, including Plex support.
  11. Mercutio

    Which OS Upgrade for old computer?

    OEM licenses (the kind I was referencing with "almost always" since as I understand it they're about 75% of the licenses sold) are tied to hardware with their Windows Activation Status, which monitors 10 hardware categories including a motherboard ID string and the MAC address of the NIC that's...
  12. Mercutio

    Which OS Upgrade for old computer?

    Sure. Whatever. "Some guy I know from the internet" is probably going to amount to the same thing though.
  13. Mercutio

    Which OS Upgrade for old computer?

    I was inspired to write this out just now, explaining to someone why I don't want to work on his 11 year old, 512MB RAM, Celeron-having Dimension 4600 with AVG 2013 installed: Quick, Counter-Intuitive Advice for People Still Using Older Computers 1. Internet Explorer is not now and never has...
  14. Mercutio

    How Secure Is My Password?

    I think the password I use for SF is the single stupidest password I use anywhere except the systems where I have to share an admin account with someone else. Some of those are actually dumber. Oh and my Netflix password, but that's only 'cause I let someone else use it for streaming.
  15. Mercutio

    This is the thread for the discussion of interesting apps.

    LM got a movie reference and dd admitted he hasn't seen the greatest comedy since "Ghostbusters." What is the world coming to?
  16. Mercutio

    How Secure Is My Password?

    You're still ultimately responsible for whatever is done with the credentials being used in authenticating.
  17. Mercutio

    Large 4K Tablets

    But think of how sweet those ultrawides will be if you buy three of them and arrange vertically! ;)
  18. Mercutio

    This is the thread for the discussion of interesting apps.

    I just noticed that if I use Swype to type the word "love", its predictive text says that the most common word for me to type next is "lamp." Also "tacos" is the fourth place word. And because Lunar won't get it: it's a quote from the movie Anchorman.
  19. Mercutio

    Large 4K Tablets

    They're not COMMON but they are available. You just have to put up with an oversized display and some compromises with regard to connectivity, color accuracy and refresh rate. And god help you if you wanted to game on one. I'd be happy to get 2560x1600 at 20 - 24" from a recognizable brand name...
  20. Mercutio

    Samsung 1TB mSATA SSD

    Hey the new USB port is reversible! That's true scientific progress right there!
  21. Mercutio

    Which OS Upgrade for old computer?

    I recall support for USB boot on AMD-based machines of that vintage as finicky. I wasn't able to move fully to using Flash drives for OS loading until I started deploying Core 2 Duo machines because of random compatibility weirdness. I don't know if this is the case here but I'm willing to...
  22. Mercutio

    Samsung 1TB mSATA SSD

    Given that the bulk of laptops being sold are $300 - $500 vomittops, I think it'll be a while before mSATA drives are a factor.
  23. Mercutio

    Shaving solutions, or, what do Gilette and all those companies do with all their $?

    Think carefully and decide if you really want an answer to that question.
  24. Mercutio

    Which OS Upgrade for old computer?

    That's HIGHLY dependent on chipset and BIOS support. That board SHOULD just work with nVidia nForce drivers, which would probably install the NIC and enable the IRQ steering or whatever the hell it is that's keeping your machine from seeing what was IIRC just Realtek audio, but if you're used to...
  25. Mercutio

    Quiet server build

    I'm all set for ridiculous file servers, but you might be interested in this chassis. The damned thing has minimally twice the internal volume of a typical mITX enclosure but it supports nine 2.5" drives if you need 'em.
  26. Mercutio

    Quiet server build

    This AsRock board is the Atom C2000-series available on Newegg. I have no idea how it works as a server-class product, but it supports 64GB of desktop RAM and has 12(!) SATA ports on an ITX form factor. If nothing else that's pretty drool worthy for a storage server.
  27. Mercutio

    Quiet server build

    d'oh! Forgot the link.
  28. Mercutio

    Quiet server build

    Something that might've escaped your attention, dd: Intel does make Eight-core Atom CPUs meant for low power servers. This Supermicro board includes a C2750 and has a TDP of 20W. The whole thing only gives about half the horsepower of an E3-series Xeon but if you're consolidating legacy servers...
  29. Mercutio

    Shaving solutions, or, what do Gilette and all those companies do with all their $?

    Woot.com has a pretty sweet deal on Mach3 and Venus cartridges right now, 8 sets of blades for $10 At last I can afford to take care of that unsightly bikini area! ;)
  30. Mercutio

    PC Gaming = World of Suck

    The thing I worry about in that configuration is noise. They're using a ITX PSU with a 40mm fan and several slot coolers in there, and none of that stuff is what I'd call quiet. Also their pictures don't show power connections, which look like they could be messy. Obviously they need a real PSU...
  31. Mercutio

    Merc's Useful Tools of the day

    Not so much a tool as a discovery: Thunderbird told me the magic settings to make Yahoo e-mail work with IMAP, something that I didn't think was possible. Incoming Server: imap.mail.yahoo.com Outgoing Server: smtp.mail.yahoo.com Incoming Port: 993 SSL Outgoing Port: 465 SSL Username: Full...
  32. Mercutio

    PC Gaming = World of Suck

    Piixl has an interesting living room gaming PC design. Looks like an ITX board with a perpendicular-mounted 16x PCI-e slot. The chassis is supposed to be expandable to accommodate hard drives. Since it basically clamps to the back of a TV, this thing has real promise for all kinds of...
  33. Mercutio

    Which OS Upgrade for old computer?

    This is a great frustration for me. Almost everything people want to do these days relates to online services, particularly for home users. They want their Facebook and Picasa and Spotify. Very few people even burn discs, and for the few people who can't be served by Google Drive's Office...
  34. Mercutio

    Haswell Laptops 14" and smaller with at least FHD screens

    8.1 isn't considered a Service Pack but rather a new OS. Upgrading previous versions of Window has from time to time required specific updates be in place. Since most of the machines impacted will have the update delivered either by the Windows Store or a corporate update server, the only people...
  35. Mercutio

    question Which Tablets

    Just the mattress weight. But that's enough that I can stack 12lbs. of crap on it and nothing will go anywhere. My cats were curious about it but they haven't been able to knock it off either.
  36. Mercutio

    question Which Tablets

    If you have a tablet or e-reader or phone you keep by your bed at night you owe it to yourself and everyone you know who does the same thing to get one of these stupid $16 pieces of plastic. I've been using mine for about three weeks and I appreciate that I'm not having to go dig for a charging...
  37. Mercutio

    Music

    Gonna have to do something since apparently AOL is pulling WinAmp off the internet in a couple weeks.
  38. Mercutio

    Which OS Upgrade for old computer?

    My rule of thumb is to not even bother to install Antivirus software on any computer old enough that it doesn't have a Windows 7 COA on it, but I do think that using at least Adblock+ and the Spybot immunizations are a pretty big deal, and people also need to give a pass to Acrobat and Java at...
  39. Mercutio

    Something Random

    My SO's mother apparently had a class with me in high school even though she's a couple years older than I am. I haven't met her yet but I'm not looking forward reminiscing about Mrs. Vance's government class. re: First snow, it's best when it's on a weekend, so you don't have to do the thing...
  40. Mercutio

    Would you buy a vomit box if it came with decent hardware for a reasonable price?

    I have no idea why they strip expansion slots off boards that should have them. I'm actually glad that nobody is still trying to make PCI video cards because I can't tell you how often I've seen someone who thought they were making their $250 crapmachine better with a $250-from-Best-Buy PCI GTX430.
  41. Mercutio

    Which OS Upgrade for old computer?

    Now is the time to try SuSE or Mint or something. I don't think you can justify wasting an OS license activation on a machine that old, and you probably just want a Facebook/Youtube/Web Browsing machine anyway.
  42. Mercutio

    Would you buy a vomit box if it came with decent hardware for a reasonable price?

    That was about $300 worth of parts in 2008. The E2200 was a half-step above a Celeron. The motherboard might've sold for as little as $45 and the hard drive might've been $50 even back then. It wasn't a fantastic buy.
  43. Mercutio

    windows 7 or 8 works in my system

    Either Windows 7 or 8 would really be a waste of the license activation on that machine.
  44. Mercutio

    Windows 8 on early Pentium 4?

    At least with regard to Hyper-V, the CPU requirements have been pretty much fixed since Server 2008. Virtual PC (and therefore XP Mode) didn't require those things but it also supported only a subset of all the features. No, a lot of older CPUs and MOST laptops are completely SOL on Hyper-V, but...
  45. Mercutio

    Windows 8 on early Pentium 4?

    Properly speaking, they're only for SOME Pro/Enterprise/Ultimate licenses. It depends a lot on how the licenses were purchased and how the organization manages them. Individual OEM licensing can actually be slightly different on a per-OEM basis from the whitebox OEM licenses we're probably most...
  46. Mercutio

    Windows 8 on early Pentium 4?

    Probably, but you can't interchange Windows versions like that. If you're on the 64bit version, you can't upgrade to 32 bit.
  47. Mercutio

    Windows 8 on early Pentium 4?

    Probably. The place where a normal human would most likely encounter Windows Embedded as opposed to Windows Mobile or RT or some other stripped down version is in point of sale equipment. Some of the register systems I deal with now have pretty fancy dual core Atom CPUs in them for no particular...
  48. Mercutio

    question Hibachi Failure

    Were I a betting man, I'd guess that if you left one sit on top of the drive for a couple weeks, it would be sufficiently hosed. It's already unreadable by dint of whatever other aspect of the drive has failed and somehow I doubt that anyone at WD is going to break out the bunny suit and...
  49. Mercutio

    How to create a wiki?

    ... and that's not even getting in to the special layers of .NET dependency hell. Basically the repair instructions boil down to "Make sure you install every single dependent Sharepoint Component, plus all the updates and THEIR dependencies, in exactly the same order they were installed in the...
  50. Mercutio

    question Hibachi Failure

    Doesn't everyone have a bunch of rare earth magnets sitting around someplace?
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