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  1. Mercutio

    Something Random

    Yeah but Fry's definitely isn't so bad when it's selling an i7 CPU for $100 less than Amazon or at least price matching what the local Microcenter is doing. Which is really handy since Microcenter doesn't like selling anyone two of the same CPU in a month.
  2. Mercutio

    Windows Security Game Over

    The service exists and it's still running, so yes, this impacts home PCs as well. If you're on the Public firewall profile and have no User accounts with(!) a password (and therefore don't use any Windows file sharing or the like), you're much more safe than a Windows server. Safety decreases...
  3. Mercutio

    Windows Security Game Over

    Anything that does network authentication. Even if you're implementing someone else's Single Sign on toolchain, it still ultimately has to authenticate through Kerberos and that's real, real bad.
  4. Mercutio

    Can't install Office 365

    You absolutely NEED to go and change the info to stuff you control ASAP. I know several people who can't change their Microsoft account info because some random person set their account up five years ago and now they can't prove they own the account to Microsoft's satisfaction.
  5. Mercutio

    Windows Security Game Over

    That's super-ugly. How does something like that pass a security audit in the first place?
  6. Mercutio

    Shingled drives and backup hardware

    Just to support Tea's observations, it's about 12x faster for me to copy 20 10GB files than it is for me to copy 100 200MB files. I'm not sure what the drive firmware could be responding to though, since no one drive should have more than 1/5 of the data for any one file in the array, regardless...
  7. Mercutio

    Shingled drives and backup hardware

    I pulled my SMR drive array (7x5TB RAID6 + 500GB SSD) out to copy it to a set of off-site drives and reads seem HIGHLY inconsistent now where before I felt they were really fine. Short writes, up to maybe 20GB, are fast to incredible, able to sustain 250MB/sec (probably the max write speed of...
  8. Mercutio

    Factory reset: Thinkpad Yoga S1

    On a standard drive with Windows installed, the x00000098 error would mean that your BCD folder is hosed for some reason. Startup Repair usually fixes that, or you can actually manually run BCDedit and fix it by hand. Since you're running it on a flash drive with no other disk, it sounds like...
  9. Mercutio

    Windows 10

    I have that happen every once in a while off a sysprep install. Usually I can bring up task manager and restart the stuck process.
  10. Mercutio

    All In One Scanner/Copier/Fax/Printer

    Every December, my company runs a series of crafts classes for the holiday season. From my perspective, these classes serve mostly to annihilate any and all printers that are set before those classrooms. In past years, I've just bought a few of whatever and let them die. This year, I just...
  11. Mercutio

    Amazon associates affiliate program feedback

    Sadly, I made my big bundle of stupid purchases last week.
  12. Mercutio

    question External Keyboard sleep in Windows 10?

    Does the Yoga have multiple USB ports? What if you went to a powered USB hub and then to your keyboard?
  13. Mercutio

    Windows 10

    Somebody had to be the fall guy for Ballmer.
  14. Mercutio

    No sound on ADI SoundMAX AC'97

    Yes. Especially ones that were new in 1997.
  15. Mercutio

    This is the thread for the discussion of interesting apps.

    I use Drive Autosync and manually move files into a couple specific folders in Google Drive when I need to deal with something than needs careful handling, like a specific receipt or card. I don't need to do those things THAT often so I'd rather manage the occasional file than bother with using...
  16. Mercutio

    Linux Domain Controller

    I've set up Samba for use as a DC, primarily in the context of centralizing password changes and basic policy management. I probably still have one or two machines from the early 2000s still running out in the world. Setting it up for the size of environments I'm dealing with was relatively...
  17. Mercutio

    UPS for server room

    On a mildly related topic, Amazon and Newegg were both offering APC BGE70 "home network" UPSes for $20 last week. They're meant to run your router, cable modem and maybe a phone or something for around 4 hours. I'd never heard of that product line prior, but it's a solid idea and possibly a...
  18. Mercutio

    problem USB flash drive refuses formatting, due to write protection

    A flash drive is usually cheap enough to be considered disposable. Even the 128GB USB 3 drives I carry are only worth about $25 these days.
  19. Mercutio

    question External Keyboard sleep in Windows 10?

    Maybe look under Advanced Power Settings, at the USB Selective Suspend? On a white box system, I might be inclined to go look for a firmware USB power management setting, but I doubt the Yoga would have such a thing.
  20. Mercutio

    PC Gaming = World of Suck

    The Dell Venue can't handle Wii games. My i5 NUC will, but I don't have internal antennas to pair the Wii controller with its bluetooth adapter. Also, I signed on to play the beta version of Unreal Tournament and Epic is giving away a game called Shadow Complex. Looks like you don't have to do...
  21. Mercutio

    vB4 Default Style Changed

    The biggest problem I have with the default theme is that there isn't much contrast between the light bluish grey of "unread" threads and the regular grey of read threads. Thank you for fixing it regardless.
  22. Mercutio

    10TB hard drive

    SMR seems fine for its intended purpose. Even two or three 8TB drives are cheaper than an LTO changer and work really well for infrequently accessed, near-line storage. Don't use it for anything time-sensitive and it's pretty good.
  23. Mercutio

    Microsoft Moving to Per-Core Licencing for Server 2016

    If they're smart, not-Oracle. The Oracle license model is "You tell us you want to use Oracle. We come back every few months with new reasons you should be giving us money." Of course, just like using Windows as a desktop OS or Adobe for content creation, you go where the expertise is, and the...
  24. Mercutio

    PC Gaming = World of Suck

    The main thing I've learned so far is that every goddamned console needs a completely different gamepad and none of them are like any of the others. I have a MAME-style 6 button controller, a PS3 controller and what I've come to understand is a Super-Nintendo-style 14-button controller, but none...
  25. Mercutio

    Microsoft Moving to Per-Core Licencing for Server 2016

    I wonder what the pricing difference will be between Server 2016 and Azure instances.
  26. Mercutio

    Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro gripes (v. it's turrible)

    I actually like doing documentation. Especially when I'm getting my hourly rate for doing it. :D
  27. Mercutio

    Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro gripes (v. it's turrible)

    If it's not a big deal where you have a real computer as home base, what makes anyone think it's an adequate station for engineering work? Whose bright idea was it to buy those and are you sure you want to work for them? The Surface Pro is actually great for a lot of applications. I use mine...
  28. Mercutio

    Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro gripes (v. it's turrible)

    With my Surface Pro, I mirror the screen to an external display and use a USB keyboard and trackball when I can. Having it as a small portable device for presentation needs works well enough and I can get by with the Type cover and trackpad if I have to, but it's never ideal. I don't think I...
  29. Mercutio

    PC Gaming = World of Suck

    My project for this weekend: figure out a decent recipe for RetroPi. I have several Pi2s and a few different gamepads sitting around. As I understand it the big challenge is getting gamepad configs right for more than one emulator, but if I can figure out two or three emulators, a Pi2, case, 8GB...
  30. Mercutio

    Windows Home Server / Home Server OS

    One thing I can now say for sure: FreeNAS runs like ass on a dual core Atom with a maximum of 2GB RAM.
  31. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I had a haul like that a few months ago when I found out the Seattle Public library was selling all the almost-impossible-to-find CDs included with issues of BBC Music Magazine from the last 20 years through Discogs. I bought I think 44 discs. They're all safely ripped now, so I guess I can sell...
  32. Mercutio

    10TB hard drive

    Did they ever address the issue with inconvenient screw placement on the Helium drives? IIRC there's no middle screw, which can make mounting the drives a PITA.
  33. Mercutio

    Smartphone and plan advice (v. clean slate)

    The S5 was probably Samsung's best overall phone. It's a solid choice. As far as a plan, you might want to look to see what you could do for a Verizon-based MVNO if you're not planning to be a big mobile data user. There's going to be a huge change in coverage by moving to Tmobile.
  34. Mercutio

    Windows 10

    I'm almost positive that you can upgrade with Windows 10 Pro media as well. I'm not sure why Microsoft ended the Upgrade Anytime program. It's really useful for making images since I can set my baseline at Home and switch based on the product key I need to deploy rather than create multiple...
  35. Mercutio

    Something Random

    It does. The Basic VGA driver that ships with Windows 8/2012/10 supports resolutions up to at least 1920x1200 and 32 bit color, but using that isn't going to make SD's fancy GPU-assisted video processing work and it's not going to help for DirectX/OpenGL. nVidia is doing something fucky now too...
  36. Mercutio

    Firefox/Palemoon Android Issue

    This is still an issue and it makes me a sad panda.
  37. Mercutio

    Cheap Display

    Speaking to that, my 24, 27 and 30" Ultrasharp displays all failed at least once in their warranty period and the 24" and 27" both failed after the warranty ended as well. I could NOT find service manuals for anything. I can swap the TCon board on a TV just fine and I figured the monitors...
  38. Mercutio

    Question on WD MyPassport Ultra 3TB

    ... upwards of two of those are possibly even good for storing data!
  39. Mercutio

    Question on WD MyPassport Ultra 3TB

    That USB interface on the bare drive is never OK.
  40. Mercutio

    4k TVs and Monitors

    Weren't you pretty disappointed with your previous Seiki purchase? It's all delivered over the internet. Samsung and Sony have proprietary delivery services and Netflix, Youtube, Vimeo and Amazon have a certain amount. I don't expect it to come out of Cable/Satellite TV boxes for some time and...
  41. Mercutio

    4k TVs and Monitors

    It's a matter of bit rate more than anything. I've seen "1080p" content off cable TV that barely looked DVD quality to me. I don't actually know what Amazon is delivering with 4k. Maybe that's a thing to investigate next.
  42. Mercutio

    Something Random

    I bought three $19 128GB flash drives, a new FireTV, a Fire Stick and a pair of $104 5TB hard drives. The only deal on that list that was for Prime Members only was the Fire Stick and frankly if you're buying one of those, you're probably already in the bag for a Prime membership. I'm incredibly...
  43. Mercutio

    Something Random

    Amazon fulfilled from multiple sites because no single location had the quantity you need. I just got a delivery to my parents' home. It's almost 10PM here. The delivery was made by a US Postal Service employee. I don't know what Amazon is doing but I do believe they are serious about getting...
  44. Mercutio

    Ting?

    I don't think it's bad at all, but I also don't ever go more than five miles from a major highway. I certainly don't think it's worth a 150% increase in my bill to have Verizon or AT&T.
  45. Mercutio

    4k TVs and Monitors

    Actually, I do think I'd give an IP to a TV if it supported Miracast, like the LG 4k TVs do. Can you tell from moment to moment if the 4k stream is actually being delivered? I realize the the difference for a lot of content is going to be inconsequential, but I'm guessing that it doesn't take...
  46. Mercutio

    My evolving space heater

    It would be decent for something other than gaming. For gaming, it's actually going to be CPU and I/O bound. Putting a mid-range GPU in that thing is a bit like sticking a Corvette engine in a Toyota Corolla.
  47. Mercutio

    Best movie you've seen

    Captain America: Civil War, from the guys who made Winter Soldier.
  48. Mercutio

    Cheap M/B CPU Combo for F@H Rig

    That's still a pretty anemic CPU, Clocker. As a shorthan, the big difference between the Pentium G and i3 CPUs is basically that the i3s have hyperthreading and some virtualization features enabled. For a single-thread task, an i3 and a Pentium G should be pretty much identical if they're...
  49. Mercutio

    My evolving space heater

    I put a GTX960 into a Core 2 Quad machine a few months ago. I thought it was a stupid-ass idea and I said so, but it runs Call of Duty 4 at 1080p and apparently that's more important than having a generally decent PC.
  50. Mercutio

    Portable Computing Envronment

    NUCs aren't THAT small either. The HDMI Stick type machines are massively underpowered for anything more than basic document editing or browsing in a small number of tabs. They're not pleasant and they tend to be both RAM and CPU constrained. That's not a winning combination.
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