Random thoughts.... [Tech Edition]

Does anyone know of a good and free benchmark program?

Best DX 11 Benchmark that is free is Unigine Heaven, 3DMark 11 is only free at shit resolutions. I use Heaven to bench my card to find stable overclocks. For CPU thermal benching I use Prime95, it maxs out the CPU so I can check my overclock cooling levels. Also OCCT and Linpack64 will rape your CPU and thermal stress it like no program can. If you run stable on those for a few hours, your overclock will withstand anything you throw at it.
 
Anti-vibration stuff

They don't have that stuff anywhere. Apparently, you can't find in Romania 120mm dust filters and anti-vibration screws. I'm just gonna go to a hardware store and get some rubber washers for the case screws and be done with it. Also, I'm probably getting a pair of these


One for the side and one in front. They're the cheapest ones with ball bearings, they have a PWM and Molex connector but I'll use the Molex one.
 
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Stupid train interweb doesn't allow irc, and stupid train sockets not giving electricity. Laptops battery will end in one hour and this journey lasts 4.5 hours.

Speed isn't too bad though:
 
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You may be able to connect via ssl, but the battery thing really makes that moot.
 
Ok, I have been making a list of apps that I need to put on tablety thing, some are mac only and I need something similar in windows.
- Some form of app quick launcher (currently using alfred)
- Something to make screenshots quickly (unless they have added something better than "print screen" by now)
- a batch photo resizer program (currently using rapidoresizer, which they stopped making for some reason)
- a small torrent program (currently using transmission)
- a font manager (currently using suitcase fusion)
- a backup program that makes bootable backups (currently using superduper!)

any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
For screenshots, Windows now comes with a program called "Snipping Tool" which allows you to crop the screen and do minor edits before saving. For a quicklauncher, notice that Windows 7 has a little "show desktop" area in the bottom right corner, so desktop icons or a sidebar widget could work there. The Start menu search box is also decent though not as advanced as Alfred seems to be.

For torrents I like ?Torrent (that's a Greek mu). Very small, easy, and light.

On the others I'm not sure as I don't really use them myself. I hear IrFanView is good for batch photo operations.
 
Well, Windows 7 is great for quick launching by default. Just hit the Windows key and start typing. I use Launchy on my XP machine at work.
I don't know of anything other than print screen.
No need, dunno.
uTorrent. Hands down.
No need, dunno.
No need, dunno, though it's possible the built in options will work well enough.
 
Ok, I have been making a list of apps that I need to put on tablety thing, some are mac only and I need something similar in windows.
- Some form of app quick launcher (currently using alfred)
- Something to make screenshots quickly (unless they have added something better than "print screen" by now)
- a batch photo resizer program (currently using rapidoresizer, which they stopped making for some reason)
- a small torrent program (currently using transmission)
- a font manager (currently using suitcase fusion)
- a backup program that makes bootable backups (currently using superduper!)

any suggestions would be appreciated.

Congrats on the tablet, I've heard a lot about the EEE slate but totally forgot about it..:p

App quick launcher: Windows has this built in. It's called Start Menu search:

http://img233.imageshack.**/img233/7909/startsearch.png

Hit the start button on your keyboard and just start typing. The list filters down and you can type only the partial app name and hit enter to launch right away, without waiting for the results list (shown above in my start menu) to display.

If you really want a third party replacement, there's Launchy: http://www.launchy.net/

Screenshots: Snipping tool within Windows 7. This tool was originally intended for tablets (the photo below shows how...if it animates), but it works on non touchscreen systems too:

0eb2d6cb-43a0-4ab2-a7da-c6161f3f015c.gif


Torrents: Utorrent is small and light: http://www.utorrent.com/

font manager: Windows 7 includes some font management (ability to preview, show/hide fonts in font drop downs) built in: http://www.windows7.cc/windows-7-features/windows-7-introduces-new-font-management/

If you require something more heavy duty, I'm not too sure. I know several font management programs exist. Lifehacker might have some suggestions.

Backup: You can create system images from within Windows 7: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Back-up-your-programs-system-settings-and-files and: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Restore-your-computer-from-a-system-image-backup

You'll need to create a system repair disc/USB key (not the same thing as what Asus will prompt you to make upon receiving your tablet, although you should make those as well) but you can easily find this within the Backup section of Control Panel.

Since this is a Windows system, anti-virus is essential. I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials. It stays out of the way and is fairly resource stingy. http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security_essentials/default.aspx

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. :)
 
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Yeah apple has it built in too it is called spotlight but it is rather slow as it pulls up so many files, alfred brings up 7 in order of how much you use it (ex: p brings up photoshop instead of photobooth at the top because apple goes by it's native apps first). Assuming launchy has preferences if the start menu doesn't that will do good.

When I mean bootable backup I don't just mean a restore thing
Screenshot2011-05-30at10552PM.png

I mean choose "boot from external disc copy" sort of thing. I have had enough issues with computers in general to make that feature invaluable if something happens to the internal drive. Also really useful to test and see if the issue is a software or hardware issue.

As far as Utorrent goes, I am not the biggest fan of the interface, it has lots of stuff that I don't really need on there.

Nice to see that 7 has a lot of the things built in I can use though, even though I have it on the desktop since 7 doesn't like older tablets I haven't played with it enough to figure out where everything is :lol:
 
I don't use most of uTorrent's interface (can't be bothered to go find mu again). Pretty much just stays on the "files" tab, or "pieces" if I'm feeling investigatory. I just like it because it's very lightweight despite giving you more information than you need. The whole thing is only a few MB.
 
Windows alters its results based on usage as well. For instance, I use remote desktop regularly. The first time I searched it, I typed the whole thing out and it was like fifth in line after settings pages pertaining to activating it and permissions and such. By the second or third time, all I had to type was 'rem' and hit enter.

uTorrent is very lightweight and easy to use, whether you use all or almost none of its features.

Also I think you can make full backup images with Windows.
 
Windows alters its results based on usage as well. For instance, I use remote desktop regularly. The first time I searched it, I typed the whole thing out and it was like fifth in line after settings pages pertaining to activating it and permissions and such. By the second or third time, all I had to type was 'rem' and hit enter.

uTorrent is very lightweight and easy to use, whether you use all or almost none of its features.

Also I think you can make full backup images with Windows.

Yep, I wasn't terribly sure about the search altering its results on usage but indeed it does.

Kat's talking about a specific OS X feature that lets you run the machine from an external hard disk...its fairly odd, and while there are ways to create a portable Windows 7 environment on a hard disk, it wouldn't contain a copy of her system.
 
oh.. can you not do that on windows? For some reason that answer didn't actually occur to me :lol:
That is sad I like that feature. :(
 
oh.. can you not do that on windows? For some reason that answer didn't actually occur to me :lol:
That is sad I like that feature. :(

While in theory it's possible, it's not something that Microsoft includes in Windows and it's a very, very convoluted process. You'd also be left with a external hard disk that doesn't have a mirror copy of your current installation unlike how OS X does it. (correct me if I'm wrong)

Windows 8 is expected to make this a lot easier: http://www.winrumors.com/windows-8-portable-workspace-allows-you-to-run-windows-from-a-usb-device/
 
You can certainly make a mirror copy a la Norton Ghost or its copycats, the hard part is booting from it directly. Normally it would have to be "restored" first.
 
Interesting tidbit of info, but I saw a friend the other day (who I hadn't seen in a long time) who works for RIM and he was carrying around the new BlackBerry Bold Touch prototype. Got to mess around it for a bit, and it was pretty cool.

*EDIT*

Ok, so after some research, it's not the Bold Touch. It looks like the Bold from the back, but the front is 100% touchscreen with no keypad.
 
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Portal 2 keeps crashing on my computer, and I get a "Problem event: BEX" error.

It was all working perfectly until this particular level - any ideas? :?
 
So a friend's computer has killed itself: without any prior warning, it just stopped booting. The fans work, I hear the HDD spin, and yet even the motherboard logo isn't shown on the screen. It just spins without working. Any ideas what can cause this problem?
 
Happened to my friend's computer the other day, turns out the motherboard just gave up. We replaced it and everything else was fine.
 
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