Search results

  1. Mercutio

    Firefox 11.0 is out.

    Could be that there was some sort of weird edge-case bug that didn't show up in regular testing. I couldn't work out exactly which add-on was causing the problem, but I use so many of them that systematically testing all of them would have been a couple days' worth of work. Stuff happens. At...
  2. Mercutio

    question How to effectively delete data from magnetic media? I mean professional way.

    My normal method of data destruction involves a high place and some concrete, or a hammer. Throw the actual tape in a paper shredder if you're worried about that.
  3. Mercutio

    USB Drive Utilities

    I suggest buying drives and putting them in enclosures yourself so that you don't wind up with retarded drives.
  4. Mercutio

    Something Random

    "Speed walking" seems to make a pretty big difference in terms what I'm able to eat and maintain my weight.
  5. Mercutio

    Firefox 11.0 is out.

    Since I got the latest Firefox update this morning, the problem went away. So that's awesome.
  6. Mercutio

    SSDs - State of the Product?

    I just bought a Samsung 830. Like 15 minutes ago. I'll have it Wednesday. I'm looking forward to getting it.
  7. Mercutio

    Need a Wireless

    The TEW-690 and TEW-638 are both just fine. I believe they have a 600Mbit version now as well.
  8. Mercutio

    iPhone syndrome

    It's not just content creation. It's "viewing content that doesn't come from or is not well supported by Apple" that's problematic.
  9. Mercutio

    Need a Wireless

    I hate, psychotically HATE the term "wifi" and the people who decided that should be a thing should be thrown in the same deep hole lined with razor blades as Western Digital. Anyway, yeah, get an Access Point. I like TrendNet. They're inexpensive and they tend to release incrementally faster...
  10. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I listen to something that is always 58.5 minutes long and I know how far I walk in that time.
  11. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I usually manage around 7.5km/hour and I'm sure you're in better shape than I am. Of course, a brisk walk is fine but don't ask me to actually jog.
  12. Mercutio

    Firefox 11.0 is out.

    Yes. The overwhelming horribleness of ATI drivers on my work PC has undoubtedly infected my T420, which has absolutely no ATI hardware at all but both Intel and nVidia, and is exhibiting the same set of symptoms.
  13. Mercutio

    Something Random

    You might want to make a disclaimer regarding broken devices on your support page, Chewy. I've certainly seen that a few times in the past. Coug, why were you walking so slowly? Were you in an urban setting with lots of cross-traffic or something?
  14. Mercutio

    Firefox 11.0 is out.

    One of the machines is my Thinkpad, which has Intel and nVidia drivers. My work desktop has ATI drivers. So... I'm thinking not?
  15. Mercutio

    Firefox 11.0 is out.

    Looks like uninstalling Flash fixes the crap out of it. But that can't be the general solution. Unfortunately, having disabled all the add-ons held in common by the two impacted machines didn't fix the problem and getting rid of flash did, so I guess I'll run like this until something-or-other...
  16. Mercutio

    Firefox 11.0 is out.

    45 open tabs, 277MB RAM used. That's pretty good. And it reloads all tabs super, super fast on my machines. Like under 10 seconds for all of them combined. But on at least two of my machines Firefox 13 is now super, ridiculously crashy. I'm sure it's a javascript issue. Gawker sites cause it...
  17. Mercutio

    question Which Tablets

    That's a bit of a double standard. More pixels are better for photos, text-rich web pages and most electronic document formats, even if they're not being used for video.
  18. Mercutio

    Macbook Pro first impressions

    Apparently they glue in the battery too, on top of requiring almost complete disassembly of the notebook with security screws to get at it. The end result is something that's almost completely non-serviceable.
  19. Mercutio

    question Which Tablets

    1920x1200 is still a pretty big step up from the currently-typical 1280x800 for large-format Android devices.
  20. Mercutio

    Macbook Pro first impressions

    I suspect that they're leveraging the logistics chain they've built on the back of the ipad parts supply to beat everyone else about the scrotum with a product that Apple and Apple alone can sell for a ridiculous markup. No one else can get away with the same shit now that Apple is the closest...
  21. Mercutio

    Macbook Pro first impressions

    Oh, and apparently the new MBPs have all their RAM soldered in. How is this thing anything but an insult to everyone other than Apple shareholders?
  22. Mercutio

    question Which Tablets

    Apparently Acer has released a 10" Tablet with a 1920x1200 display. It still says Acer on it, but I'd say that represents a sign of a real response to the ipad 3.
  23. Mercutio

    Apache OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

    I think properly there's a distinction between (the) Schism and (a) schism in this usage but as I said it's really asking a lot to go looking at specifics; only one of the faithful is really going to be able to relate to whether some tiny matters of faith are important enough to create another...
  24. Mercutio

    Macbook Pro first impressions

    As I've said before, MBPs are "supposed" to fall into the same broad category as what I typically think of as "business class" products from other manufacturers. They have support offerings that are similar-ish to Dell and Lenovo business products, demand premium pricing and at one time they...
  25. Mercutio

    Macbook Pro first impressions

    I still have to manage access to networks and to data. Usually that means setting up Parallels or VMware Fusion for one thing or other. And then that's a hassle to manage. As far as I know there's no good tool for administering VMs that are on individual workstations. Which is a different reason...
  26. Mercutio

    Macbook Pro first impressions

    I stuck the MBP in one of my classrooms to use for presentation since I'm not using it otherwise and it annoys me because people buy these things and then expect me to support them. I can tell them all day long that I don't want to deal with Apple shit but the same people who whine about blowing...
  27. Mercutio

    Macbook Pro first impressions

    That's the problem. Extra crap gets broken or lost.
  28. Mercutio

    Macbook Pro first impressions

    Sure, you say that. Until you're in a place that doesn't have 802.11. Some of my customers don't. They really can't be doing it because of any serious cost savings. They aren't doing it to improve reliability. In the end I suspect they're doing it to drive the sale of a $30 accessory and to...
  29. Mercutio

    Macbook Pro first impressions

    You clearly never had to support end users in the days of PCMCIA NICs.
  30. Mercutio

    Macbook Pro first impressions

    So apparently the new Macbook ditches the ethernet port entirely. Who the hell thinks that's a good idea? On a "business" machine? Really?
  31. Mercutio

    Firefox 11.0 is out.

    That was genuinely, legitimately fascinating.
  32. Mercutio

    Apache OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

    It's not that complicated. Protestants divide themselves over the tiniest points of ecclesiastic dogma. Which is why you can get eight or nine Baptist churches in a town of 10,000 and all of them will claim the other one is wrong.
  33. Mercutio

    Laptop Recommendations?

    From what I've read, Apple absolutely has a stranglehold on the supply chain for IPS display components that stems from the popularity of the ipad. I'm not sure if it applies to larger screens, but I guess a lot of options are off the table for companies that don't already own or control...
  34. Mercutio

    Laptop Recommendations?

    I don't even think anyone is offering that in a desktop display.
  35. Mercutio

    iPhone syndrome

    Obviously not, given the additional complexity of supporting iOS devices for general-purpose remote file access as we recently discussed.
  36. Mercutio

    iPhone syndrome

    Unfortunately, that comes at such a huge cost to basic functionality that the tradeoff is really not worth the hassle of dealing with the hardware. "General data storage" should be a fundamental function of a general purpose computing device and icraps fail at that.
  37. Mercutio

    Apache OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

    You are asking me to care far, far too much about what people who are wrong about things think and do.
  38. Mercutio

    Windows 8

    Don't get me started on this crap. I did have a productive discussion on the fact that I've managed to shepherd a customer into web-based solutions for everything they use except MS Office, something they barely need but think they have to have. I was able to demonstrate that their three most...
  39. Mercutio

    Apache OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

    "Kids, From now on there are three ways of doing things: the right way, the wrong way, and the Oracle way." "Isn't that just the wrong way?" "Yes, but faster."
  40. Mercutio

    problem Performance / Delays

    It's pretty painful waiting on the top-level forum. I'd say it's been slow for maybe a week.
  41. Mercutio

    Windows 8

    That's harsh. I suspect you're right, if only because the market for expensive computing devices has shifted to tablets that have reduced expectations and different-from-Windows functionality associated with them. I think there's a lot of morons who would rather have an $800 ithing than an $800...
  42. Mercutio

    Windows Phone 7

    Given that Microsoft is propping up Nokia as its Windows Mobile hardware manufacturer of choice, why would HTC really want to make a huge investment in something that's pretty clearly a non-starter that's just going to be abandoned the minute Win8 is available on ARM and Medfield anyway?
  43. Mercutio

    iPhone syndrome

    The SHA-1 values represent a completely valid compromise simply because Rainbow Tables for values of up to X arbitrary digits have already been calculated. Since SpammedIn isn't storing the original password anyway, all bad guys really need is a collision between the hash value and an entry in...
  44. Mercutio

    Apache OpenOffice vs LibreOffice

    Much like branches of Protestantism, once there's a schism, there does not tend to be a reunification. We now have Orthodox OpenOffice and Reformed OpenOffice and I'm sure someone or other can explain in great detail why the people on the other side are heretics and they'd rather die or use MS...
  45. Mercutio

    Anyone using M-Disks?

    I don't really believe there's such a thing as a long term digital format.
  46. Mercutio

    Macbook Pro first impressions

    I figure that I can either do the work myself or I'd rather have a depot tech with every part in the freaking universe at his fingertips doing it. U Apparently my MBP will be back Friday. So that's something. I guess.
  47. Mercutio

    Windows 8

    There are a couple different issues that can keep Chrome, Picasa and the GChat desktop client from installing on Server 2008. One of them is a group policy change and the other is IIRC something to do with the uber-restrictive IE defaults on Windows Servers. At different times I've found...
  48. Mercutio

    Firefox 11.0 is out.

    Everyplace I've worked that had an issue with third-party equipment on-site, the issues were more about data access (don't bring in things that store data or access the internal network) and liability for disposal than about loss prevention. I always etch my name somewhere on my portable...
  49. Mercutio

    Firefox 11.0 is out.

    I'd probably just bring in my own stuff from home were I in your situation. Companies sometimes get pissy about that too, but it might be easier to stick a personal asset tag on it and make the case that it makes it easier to do your job than just suffer.
  50. Mercutio

    iPhone syndrome

    Given that I only see maybe a half dozen unwanted messages in a typical week, it's a rather significant portion of the total.
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