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Everything posted by Andrew
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Yah, the pay to download is scammy. I have nostalgia goggles from when he never did that stuff. So I often forget about it.
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New PC for gaming and home media
Andrew replied to Mahdi's topic in Technical Issues, News, & Reviews
You could use Handbrake software to rip all the dvd you own and put on hdd. Then you never have to use dvd optical. Each DVD works out to be around 800mb-1.2gb in size for normal quality using handbrake. So 100 dvd = 100gb. All sorted in XBMC with info and knows which ones you've watched. Can pause 1/2 way through movie, shut down computer, and xbmc remembers where you were. Don't need soundcard, it comes on motherboards by default. Some cases will have a small card reader, which you wire onto the motherboard. You can get dedicated full card readers for $20. You have netflix? I havn't used it myself, but my parents and nephew use it all the time. Seems to have good selection (I know it sucks compared to states), but for $8/month can't complain. Will have lots more to write later tonight, going to work. EDIT tonight: I think takes 15 min to rip dvd using handbrake, but I'm not sure since it has been 2 years. USB comes on motherboard. The USB plugs on the case come with case, and they come with wires to plug into the motherboard. I now notice you mention DVD from 'the library' (I heard they have good selection of dvd nowadays). Hmm, tough decision about what to do with 'rented' dvd. Do you have netflix? Could do 1 dvd at a time and the rest netflix or other streaming services. But DVD drives are $20, so not expensive to have 2 DVD players. Most motherboard have 5-6 sata ports. So with 2 optical, 1ssd, 1hdd, you have 1-2 port(s) unused for now. Also, CBC/CTV/Global put recent tv episodes on their website to watch. Small/poor quality selection of free youtube movies: http://www.youtube.com/user/YouTubeMoviesCA/videos?view=26&tag_id=&sort=dd There's a couple good movies on their among the obvious crap. I'm into Japanese anime and Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis was great. When I built my first desktop I spent about 40 hours researching stuff, and figuring out what to get, then waited for sales. So it is not real easy to start (wikipedia helped a lot). forgot the worst thing about building your own is where to get windows isntallation? Pay >$100 for it? Maybe easier to buy prebuilt then. $900 prebuilt could get something decent. I know the $500 desktops are filled with crap case/psu and parts. But if you want fancy case I havn't seen staples/futureshop selling them. And then having to buy own ssd to install windows that comes with prebuilt (do they even allow you to burn backup of os anymore?). EDIT: WTF? So I went looking at futureshop to look at desktops. $800 for this piece of garbage. Last November/December I could have built something faster/better for $400... I'm guessing a price error or something as another $800 desktop had normal specs for the price (only 300 watt PSU??? lol). Any local geek friends you could pay $100 to build you a $800 before tax computer? EDIT: staples desktops seem better speced/priced than futureshop. Later maybe I'll 'build' a desktop from an online retailer to see what I can get for $900. -
Maybe this happened a long time ago since I never visit the website. http://dune2k.com Goes to duniverse section. No more outdated news page?
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While technically 'pirating', dune2k.com does/did link to nahoo somewhere (has since 2001 at least) as it was once a good place for dune2k files and info. I usually just tell people to google nahoo and hope they find the link themselves (blame google! ;)). Directly linking probably a bad idea. Worst case just PM the person asking. Hmm, sadly gog.com doesn't have dune games, so difficult to legitimately purchase the game.
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New PC for gaming and home media
Andrew replied to Mahdi's topic in Technical Issues, News, & Reviews
Had to make another post for D2k Sardaukar since my other one was too big. It's like we're twins! Same thoughts exactly. I agree with d2k saudukar that optical is dieing. I use mine about once a month at the most (old games). Rarely burn anything since hdd are so cheap for storage. For hdmi cables don't pay more than $1 per foot. monoprice has super cheap cables, just get $20 worth of cables, probably $15 for shipping, and cheaper than buying anywhere else. Can take 2 weeks to arrive though. Monoprice is also where I bought 5 OTA antennas. Currently on sale. Mahdi use http://www.tvfool.com/ to see what channels you can get. If get tv tuner for PC can record tv shows from antenna etc. I hear xbox controllers are good for steam etc. I bought a playstation logitech controller couple years ago never opened it, since none of my games so far required a controller. Make sure to get a wireless keyboard/mouse! Highly recommend Logitech MX5500 ($100 on sale). The mouse is big, but you'll get used to it (2 friends use it). If just want cheap keyboard/mouse to start with get logitech Mk320 which normally goes on sale for $25. I suggest putting receiver on front of case, or have usb extension cord coming from back and have in line of sight of keyboard/mouse for best reception. Vid cards are difficult to choose. I ended up with amd 6670 just because it was the highest vid card before you needed dedicated power from PSU. It works great with my games, although I don't have any brand new high quality games to play. If on steam just get older games for 75% off ($2.50-$5), and that will keep you busy forever, and can get newer games when they get older and cheaper (plus fully patched etc). D2k Sardaukar: I have antec300 as well. great case. Bought a spare second one when on sale for $34 including taxes a year ago. Dust filter works great on front, and I have another dust filter on side intake fan. GET COMPRESSED AIR TO CLEAN COMPUTER. omg that has changed everything for me. Extremely easy to clean with compressed air cans. Costco sells 6 pack cheap. Can should last 4 cleans or more. Once every 2-3 months. I think you got pets mahdi so do more often and make sure fan filters on any intake fans. Just get quiet fans. and not loud. I really only hear it when no other noise in room. When watching movie/tv/music I don't notice it. I originally bought scythe fans for my antec (2 front, 1 side). Still work fine. Although since then have stocked up in other more expensive fans. With anti vibration mounts. The original 140mm fan that came antec 300 was causing top of case to vibrate making noise, so I added Nexus SFM-1000 Silicon Fan Mounts, which eliminated most noise. Highly recommend them. Better than screws :) Try touching top of antec case to see if you notice noise difference, that's how I figured out what the problem was after installing a new 140mm fan and was still noisy. I have 2 included antec 300 fans set on lowest speed, unless in summer when 25+Celsius or 20+ and playing games. SSD is a requirement for any computer nowadays in my opinion. You can have a brand new computer, but if only have hdd, it will run the same speed as a 4+year old computer with ssd. Yah, new AAA games are like 20gb installed. http://www.traynier.com/software/steammover]Steam mover can help move games back and forth from hdd to ssd I use XMBC to watch movies/tv shows. VLC as well, but xbmc organizes everything and gets info about stuff. -
New PC for gaming and home media
Andrew replied to Mahdi's topic in Technical Issues, News, & Reviews
Ugh. Bad time for computer buying due to increasing ram prices. But make sure to get some deals and won't be too bad. Mahdi says his budget is $900 (for just tower I assume, which is a high budget, which means good quality parts possible). Sadly I havn't done any research on intel/nvidia (I'm amd). I'm sure the overheating issues you've had were laptops, and they were bad for amd. But shouldn't be any problems on properly ventilated desktops (Mine has 8 fans, no problems even when 30+ Celsius room temperature). Places I shop fr computer stuff: newegg.ca http://www.memoryexpress.com/ <-has really good price matching http://www.ncix.ca/ dell.ca (mostly for electronic accessories+monitor) http://forums.redflagdeals.com/hot-deals-f9/ <-- great place for canadian deals. electronics household items etc. I've spent $1000+ due to the deals found here. monoprice.com for cables. It's US based, just make sure to order $20 at most, use canada post, and quite cheap, good quality. You're looking at around $100 (before taxes) for 128gb SSD. I highly suggest getting a 256gb SSD. I got one last November and I have easily 'filled' it with steam games. Basically just OS+some basic apps+steam. Games are much faster running from SSD. Although if on budget 128gb is fine and there are programs to move your steam games back and forth from ssd->hdd. Don't fill SSD past 90% (you could temporarily) if you want to maintain higher speeds and longevity. Actually just get 128gb and can upgrade to 256gb at end of year or later when prices go down. Sadly their prices are the same as October 20 2012 (unlike jan 2012-october 2012 prices dropped in half). HTPC is great idea, everyone is doing that nowadays. You can still hook up a monitor to the htpc as well (run both tv+monitor at same time). I have 2 computers in the house and both are hooked up to tv+monitor. Don't know if you have satellite or not, but could get rid of that to save $. Just use a OTA antenna to hook into tv, or possibly a tv tuner for computer to watch on computer/tv. I get cbc/ctv/global. Was spending $900 a year on satellite, now only $7.99 a month (96/year) for netflix. So ~$800 per year saved (which I spent on new tv and surround sound). Due to ram prices sucking, if you can find 2x4gb ram for good price at good speed just get that and get the other 2x4gb black friday/boxing day. I have 8gb ram and never 'use' it all. Although it is always full with cache. You'll be wanting a 2tb drive. Why? Because 2tb sell for ~$80. 500gb sell for $40(?). Cost per gb wise 2-3tb is best bet. I really suggest 2 hard drives at least (although you can just buy more later). I have 1tb cav black for my active non stop use. I have data/games/music/unwatched movies+tv, use it for torrents, and lots of stuff on it. I then use 2x1tb cav green, 2tb seagate, 1tb 2.5" for archival storage and backup. Why 2 optical drives? I've never heard that before. If you have dvd collection just rip them to your hdd later so no more messing with discs if you want to watch something. dvd drives are ~$20 (although last week newegg had one for $12 freeship). bluray readers are ~$60-80 I think. Unless you have a blu ray collection to watch, I'd just get dvd for now. As bluray prices will drop (black friday etc). 2 of my friends use these fancy desktop cases: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204035 http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204037 Check to make sure how much clearance room you have so it will fit on your entertainment center. The bigger version the better as easier to fit all parts inside. Also can sometimes be issue with cpu heatsink/fan, or trying to fit in large video card. Thus larger case = better. The quality on the case is not perfect (but for price when on sale not much other products better), I think both friends esata on front didn't work. Difficult to find fancy side case without paying through the nose. I use antec 300 for my desktop (stand up). cheap, lots of room inside. Could lay on its side but dvd/bluray wouldn't work since sideways. For motherboard make sure usb3 and sataIII usb3 sticks are cheap nowadays (also every external hdd comes with usb3) and usb3 is much faster than usb2 (try copying 15gb to your usb stick on usb2 will take forever). SataIII 6.0gbps is futureproofing for SSD to get max speed (sequential reads/writes). You are buying a prebuilt desktop? :( If from staples/future/bestbuy the parts inside are low quality. Will be difficult to meet your specs (mostly fancy case and ssd) if buying prebuilt. Everywhere overcharge for SSD if prebuilt computer. There is a lot of research to do if building your own computer. But once you know how and get the parts, and after your first build it will seem easy. How powerful your video card can help determine what power supply wattage to get. I get by on 380 watts with 1ssd/2hdd+1optical+8fans+amd6670 vid card. You'd probably want 500 watts at least, and if you can get a certified 80plus version it will be more energy efficient. A lot to read sorry, but if any questions feel free to ask. -
I've become a fan of her music. Check out some of her songs on youtube to see if you like her style of music. EDIT: I think most/all of her geidi primes album is on youtube.
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Let's keep this thread on topic. Thanks.
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http://www.nme.com/news/grimes/69454'>Grimes: 'I want to remake cult sci-fi movie 'Dune''
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2 more commies to vote for obama! ;) Congrats and I completely forgot about the date.
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Folder for steam games can be found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps Either under your username or 'common' folder. At least that is where all my games are, and is the default folder steam had me use.
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A good read. Do others think there has been a downfall of RTS games lately as mentioned in the AMA? I havn't really been into newer games until a couple months ago. I suppose the FPS genre took a large share compared to mid to late nineties when C&C and other RTS were at height of popularity. I think I heard that Company of Heroes was a good RTS. I bought it, installed it but havn't played it because they require you to create an account in order to play which I didn't want to do at the time. I'm not sure what's going to happen when they shut down the registration/login server... Stupid new games creating more barriers to play the damn game you already paid for. Might have to go back to 90s games.
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I need some general tips about switching to Linux
Andrew replied to MrFlibble's topic in Technical Issues, News, & Reviews
I think a livecd and livusb should use the same amount of ram. But running an OS off livecd longterm would be extremely slow and noisy. Livecd only good for testing to make sure everything works and installing (assuming liveusb doesn't work). Possible for livecd to use more ram than hdd install, but I'd think they were designed similar, it would mostly depend on what you do. I don't suggest using livecd as your daily os (use liveusb or install livecd to hdd). If your computer has usb2.0 I'd definitely try liveusb for everything as it would be really fast. How big is your hdd? If 80gb or less they were extremely slow. I did some benchmarks in my nettop and ssd thread comparing hdd/usb/ssd speeds. -
http://imgur.com/a/6y8PI is correct link
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http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/plan-to-seize-savings-accounts-draws-fury-in-cyprus-1.1199967'>Plan to seize savings accounts draws fury in Cyprus So if you have money in your bank account, the greek government will be taxing it at 6.75% up to $~130,000, and any above that at 9.9%. Pretty crazy thing to do. I really don't see how that would help the economy when you start a bank panic. Not sure about how their entire taxing system works (do they have high income tax and goods and services tax already?), but I know if my government tomorrow decided to tax everything I put into a bank account at 6.75% I would not be using a bank.
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http://imgur.com/25L9AZ3 I seem to remember Sim City 1 including a marina that you didn't have to pay extra for.
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Season 1 Episode 1 I play Crusader Kings 2 as well. :D
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The people who preordered SC5 got what they deserved, since it was known before launch all the bad things about it. No point preordering nowadays (they can't run out of digital downloads), other than the 'extra' stuff you get, but that's not worth spending $50+ on a possible dud game at launch. EDIT: http://imgur.com/a/gVKs3
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I need some general tips about switching to Linux
Andrew replied to MrFlibble's topic in Technical Issues, News, & Reviews
I'd think you'd miss a lot software wise using something from 2005. bugs etc. I doubt newly released software would work with 8 year old linux os. You'd run into a lot of problems by choosing a really old OS. If not connected to the internet, what exactly do you plan on using it for? That would be the main question. A firewall? server? print server? old games? The only benefit of using an old OS is if your desktop is really really old and newer OS don't support old hardware that good. But you should try new version distro first before going back in time. -
I need some general tips about switching to Linux
Andrew replied to MrFlibble's topic in Technical Issues, News, & Reviews
Most linux installers would have no problem formatting windows partition and leaving the other partition alone (you have to specify depending on installer, otherwise it could just wipe entire hdd). Or install linux on the other partition and leave windows partition alone (so you could dual boot). Linux mint is supposed to be a good OS, it is based off of ubuntu. Lubuntu would still run faster (less ram) than xubuntu or most xfce desktop interfaces I think. I have lubuntu running on an old nettop (single core 1.6ghz, 1gb ram) from a usb stick (removed the hdd and put in external enclosure). No problems. I'd try the liveusb of whatever distro you choose to try (assuming they can work on your computer). If not if you have a cd-rw to try each OS, and just overwrite the cd-rw with each os as you try them. Definitely try OS before you install. -
I enjoyed Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Although I've enjoyed almost every film from studio ghibli. In the first episode of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peep_Show_%28TV_series%29'>Peep Show one character shows David Lynch's Dune DVD in the case, and mentions wanting to watch it.
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I need some general tips about switching to Linux
Andrew replied to MrFlibble's topic in Technical Issues, News, & Reviews
Lubuntu is good for old computers. Part of the ubuntu lineup. But it says needs 512mb ram. Damn Small Linux (DSL) is meant for really old computers. It should work well for your computer. I've used it before and it was pretty good for such a small os. Not sure what you are expectign from an os for an old computer, but I'd expect that web browsing speed would be #1 concern. With 256mb ram you are kinda screwed though (DSL should work fine though, and you can maybe run the entire os/program in ram which would make it extremely fast!). 512mb is better. Can you find any old ram to stick in your computer? There is no way to uninstall windows that I know of. I'm not exactly sure why you want that specifically. I assume you want your files/documents to be preserved, without having to backup? you should backup anything important before doing anything with linux though. You can dual boot linux and windows (computer starts and you choose which to boot into). Or you can format and install just linux. If your hdd is really old (I assume it is with your 256mb ram), you might be better off running the OS from a usb stick. Does your computer have usb2.0? Or is it 1.1? If 2.0 a good quality usb stick would be much faster than your old hdd. You can use unetbootin to install linux os to a usb stick (it will usually format the usb stick so make sure nothing important o usb stick). Make sure in your BIOS to allow usb boot first, or there could be a boot menu button to press when computer starts up (F11 or one of the F keys at top of keyboard, it will usually say alongside the bios key). I suggest DSL os on a usb stick. If you like the features/speed and it works that is great. Definitely try any os from a liveusb. livecd possible, but they are slow, but your computer might not support liveusb. Maybe try a cd-rw so you can overwrite cd while trying different OS instead of wasting CDs. Sadly it looks like DSL is not maintained that much. I'd try the Current Release Candidate: 4.11RC2 version. EDIT: Try http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20and%20Getting%20Started.htm'>Puppy Linux and http://crunchbang.org/'>CrunchBang instead of DSL -
How to play dune2000 ( Cracked virsion ) online ?
Andrew replied to Abdo ElAdawy's topic in Dune 2000 Support
http://forum.dune2k.com/index.php?app=forums&module=extras§ion=boardrules I have no idea if cracked versions can be played online. Maybe someone can pm you the info. -
This is what my google image search looks like. Yours like this? When I hover over an image it enlarges it a bit. I can scroll down the page and it automatically loads more images. http://imgur.com/rkFM4
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ccleaner is what I use for that type of stuff. http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/builds installer version. don't think comes with toolbar in the installer.