CoffeeFiend

Nope. The only Linux-based phones I'm aware of are those based on Google's Android platform, but even then, there aren't any of those out yet, and I'm not so sure it'll be that great either (haven't been impressed by prior reviews) Not at all. OS 9 is the old classic Mac OS that has NOTHING in common with Mac OS X. Mac OS X has a Mach kernel, which is BSD-based (it's not BSD, just based on it). It also has a lot of heritage from the NeXT platform. And FreeBSD isn't Linux at all, just like OS X or Solaris or Windows aren't.

In fact, I was considering ordering some of that, and seeing how well it plays with my existing OCZ Platinum... Partly because I don't want to play the mail in rebate thing with OCZ stuff again (didn't get it back last time)

Strange server -- that's not an ISA slot, nor an EISA slot, nor a VLB slot, nor a MCA slot, nor a PCI slot, nor a PCI-X slot, nor a PCI-e slot. Also, when you get into equipment connected like this (on a backplane) the motherboard usually "plugs in" just like all daughterboards. That's probably it. Doesn't look like anything used in Meridian-1 switches though (that'd be the PBX'es I've played the most with), nor the other few kinds I've seen (smaller models and leased units).

Some kind of multi port card obviously. The most interesting/helpful part would be that label, right by the one with the serial number at the top right of the pic.

Could be, but most PLCs I've worked with didn't quite have that format (and for the most part didn't use cards). Then again, PLCs vary quite a bit from a company to another. Trying to make an educated guess, but a guess nonetheless... Yours is as good as mine! Nah. There's really only one thing I'm good at: telling a good cup of coffee when I see one

I've seen a lot of different boards that looked somewhat like this (none of it was a x86 architecture motherboard like you seem to expect). But the best way to tell for sure, is you to find any kind of information on the board itself (like a model number on the silkscreen or such). Can't really say at that size and somewhat blurred. If I had to make a wild guess, I'd say it looks like a board from a DAQ system.

Exactly what I said yesterday, when this stuff hit the front page news.

You won't find an app that does exactly that out of the box, it's too much of a niche market (it's probably like just you two guys out there with that specific need). You'd have to write a script that lists files inside each zip file, and if any file has the characters you don't want in it, it uses an external app like winrar to rename them one by one. Or "outsource" to someone that will write it for you... If you have that much data to process, and that it's of any importance to you, you shouldn't mind paying someone a few bucks (on a site like rentacoder or whatever) to do it for you, or spending time to learn to use tools to accomplish it. Just saying, if you want a tool that does that out of the box, you most likely (as in 99.999% sure) won't find one.

There's no point in getting smaller sticks. It just fills up more slots for nothing, so the next time you want to upgrade, you'll have to discard some of your existing RAM first (if not all, like if you wanted to upgrade to 8GB, whereas with 2x2GB you'd just add more). Plus, it's no cheaper.

Trivial to do, using any scripting language, including vbscript (or jscript), built right into windows (no runtimes or anything necessary). This should work: Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") WshShell.Run "your_app.exe" WScript.Sleep 250 'wait for app to appear WshShell.SendKeys "+{F11}" Save as whatever_you_want.vbs Here: full docs on MSDN That was a good and useful tool... a dozen years ago.

Again, there's better alternatives in most cases (Win CE, Win Mobile, Symbian, VxWorks, etc), unless up-front price is the big issue (free wins here of course). So what is cheaper between paying $$$ for a better dev platform, or having to write a lot of stuff yourself (costs $$$ too), mostly depends on which kind volume you'll sell (and to some extent your profit margin). We don't use Linux in any of our embedded products, it's just not worth it. Linux works "best" in a small subset of embedded devices with high-volume (like routers or tivo's). Notice how even new shiny devices like the iPhone don't use it? Yep, it was better for them to write their own OS for it (based on another product -- a desktop OS, not quite from scratch, but still). Well, of course a box with just a Linux kernel running (no X or anything) is lighter than say, a full blown install of Win XP. But now with server core and Win HPC, it's not so much the case anymore. Then again, we're talking about something that perhaps less than a person in a million does... Win HPC is a brand new product, and it's already making its way into the top 500 list. It's just not quite the "best thing since sliced bread" a lot of people make it out to be. Yep, you can use it to offer dirt-cheap LAMP hosting for all these blogs full of stuff no one wants to read, and cheap DNS/Squid/whatever boxes, but other than that... Most of the time there's a better solution (unless your main criteria is licensing price).

I was talking mostly about the desktop (where it's pretty much worthless). But even in that other context, it's not so much the case: Embedded? Win CE is pretty big there, so is Windows Mobile -- they're very worthwhile alternatives. And there's also FAR better RTOS'es for "lighter" devices too IMO (I work in this field) Server? Nah, Windows pwns linux at a LOT of it (just not, say, as the cheapest way to serve ghetto LAMP hosting for blogs and forums) Distributed? Windows HPC is quicky getting there too...

Indeed: Microsoft makes good & useful software that actually works -- quite a difference! There's LOTS of it. Visual Studio Express Eds, the .NET framework (has compilers in it), various SDKs, TONS of useful dev stuff (the enterprise library, ASP.NET AJAX, etc), Sysinternals Suite, VPC, Virtual Server, Hyper-V, windbg, various powertoys, ... But somehow he seems to misunderstand Microsoft is a company, and their goal is to make money for their shareholders (amazing concept, I know!), and like 99.999% of companies with a business model that actually works, they make money by selling products (yeah, god forbid someone makes money! next thing you know, people will expect to get paid to work! sheesh) There was nothing to prove in the first place, it was already an established fact: 15 year olds like to use the $, heh. Nothing much you can do about people with childish attitudes. But they don't wanna know that. Yep, some companies spend serious $ to pay devs, and yes, that money actually comes out of your pockets when you buy those companies' products (just indirectly). That money comes from somewhere, and ultimately, it's your pockets too.

1.8GB extracted (out of which like 165MB are used by unit_hlp_XX folders), and the help files are still optional? I'm speechless. Edit: downloading them? trivial to do, using apps like wget...

What chm files? For what? Just curious... That could be scripted. Deleting files is trivial. Modifying a MSI installer is fairly simple too (using the OpenDatabase and OpenView methods of the WindowsInstaller.Installer object and simple SQL-like commands) Looks like just removing the files works though (saves 300-some MBs). I figured that was probably fairly easy to strip too (haven't actually looked yet though) The help file (winrar.chm) has the infos about all the switches. The commands are stored as comments (added using command c, and loaded from a file using the -z switch, as the help file suggests) Edit: BTW, you don't need a large and fancy thinstalled unpacker just for a standard 7zip sfx. Just "7z.exe x Nero-9.x.x.x.exe -oc:\some\path\" will do... That's trivial to script too.

That post wasn't to make you aware of that, but rather for other people who might have wanted those infos (instead of a tool, or perhaps to make their own, or just wanted to know what's going on, as a compiled autoit script doesn't let you peek). I don't think anyone posted that list yet (the forum search found nothing for that at least). Just sharing the infos, that's all.

To remove an app, you remove two folders: the unit_app_XX being the app itself, and if it exists unit_hlp_XX (the help for it obviously): 1: InCD 4: Nero Burning Rom 6: Nero Express 5: Nero CoverDesigner 10: Nero PhotoSnap 12: Nero Recode 13: Nero ShowTime 14: Sountrax 15: Nero StartSmart 16: Nero Vision 17: Nero WaveEditor 19: Nero DriveSpeed 20: Nero InfoTool 21: Nero Rescue Agent 22: Nero BurningRights 50: Nero Disc Copy Gadget 57: Nero DiscSpeed 64: Movie Templates - Starter Kit 71: Nero Live You also always remove unit_app_75 (NeroAskToolbar) Others (might not be present): 2: Nero 3D Studio 3: Nero BackItUp 4 7: Nero Home 8: NeroImageDrive 9: Nero MediaHome 11: Nero PhotoSnap Viewer 18: Nero CD DVD Speed 30: Nero ProductInstaller 4 49: Nero Move It 51: Nero Mobile 53: SecurDiscViewer 56: NeroTest 58: Nero LiquidTV 63: Nero ControlCenter 4 73: NeroRadioGadget 74: NeroLiveGadget 75: NeroAskToolbar No numbers: Nero ScratchBox, Nero SoundBox, Nero AudioEffectLibrary, Nero Container, etc. These infos brought to you by your neighbourly hex editor and setupx.exe from Nero 9 (search for <NERO> or <FAMILY name="Nero"> to view the full XML) Edit (for the sake of completedness): Seemingly you can just remove the extra language files (in subdirs) as-is, without breaking anything. Same goes with "runtime" folders, like unit_tpi_directx-9c-redist-d3dx9-30, unit_tpi_vcredist-x86-2005Sp1 and unit_tpi_windows-installer-3.1

Won't work. WMI relies on the already installed drivers to enumerate installed stuff. It can't magically guess what hardware is solely based on vendor and device IDs or such.

Don't you think it's time to upgrade your dev tools? It's a 14 year old compiler for "real" DOS (the 16 bit era, while we're all moving to x64 quickly). Most people stopped using DOS dev tools in the Windows 3.1 to Win95 era. It's not like there are no other C++ compilers out there either. I just can't think of any valid reasons to keep using that old thing. Here: Visual C++ 2008 Express Edition (completely free, legit and up to date). Also, the Windows SDK comes with a compiler that can even compile x64 apps (for free too). And there's some others (GCC, Bloodshed, etc)

I knew the DS3R's usually come with the said bracket, as my GA-P35-DS3R (same board as yours but with RAID too) came with one The power out thing on it is handy too. I'll probably buy a couple GA-EP45-DS3R's too (after xmas).

It depends on what video renderer you use (overlay, VMR, etc), and which between the monitor and your TV is set as the primary display.

The GA-EP45-DS3R actually has two (on a bracket). See the pic here No kidding! If your PC draws 200W average (24/7), and that you have cheap hydro power or such (at say, $0.10/KW*h), 80% (over a 70% model) will save you about $35 per year. So over its lifetime of say, 4 or 5 years, it'll more than pay for itself (around $175 saved over 5 years). Of course, average power used varies a lot, and so does the price of power from one place to another.

Thanks! Then I guess I tried to... But even then, there's just soooooooo much more to it. Group regulation? Overall assembly quality (e.g. lose screws)? How many 12V rails (and how they're "distributed" on different cables)? Nylon braid on the wires (and the gauge of the said wires)? Ripple? How god/quiet/effective the fan is (brand? sleeve or bearings)? What optional protections are there and how well do they work? Efficiency curves? ... We could go on for just about forever here. With the nicer PSUs one pays for a lot more than just brand name. There's a GIGANTIC difference in quality too. Lack of time as always! Stuff to do around the house, a last minute near-deadline GDI+ app I gotta work onto, etc. My life is pretty crazy at times. I shouldn't even be "wasting" time posting here!

It VERY much is, and not only when it comes to computers! You wouldn't believe how many systems I've seen who didn't work because of that (and again, I don't mean just computers here). There's just FAR more to it than just "what is wattage": -you have to have power where it counts/where you need it. That junk PSU has way too many amps on the 5V rail (that screams old outdated design already, i.e. a classic early ATX era design), and not enough where you really want more i.e. the 12V rail(s) -you have to understand how they're electrically built: often, different rails are powered from the same tap on the same transformer, so they'll claim X amps on a rail and Y amps on another, but both combined cannot exceed what the transformer's output can handle i.e. combined power limits, which are clearly missing on this unit (like on most junk PSUs where they'd rather you not know! more or less lying by omission here) -a lesson in quality: cheapo PSUs use garbage components overall (everything to save a penny), like crappy capacitors and a lot of other inadequate parts (e.g. diodes & mosfets that cannot handle the advertised load, bolted right onto inadequate heat sinks no less) that will quickly fail -a lesson in real-life conditions: perhaps they claim it can provide that much power, assuming the heat sink the parts rest on is at 20 degrees Celsius, with similar room temp. Too bad that in real life, the air getting in your PSU will be hotter, and the heat sinks hotter too. And some key components derate with temperature (loose capacity), so the real-life capacity just isn't what they claim (I've plenty of times seen junk PSUs where some parts couldn't handle half the current stated at "normal" operating temperatures) -a lesson in marketing: wattages on garbage PSUs are often just plain old lies by their marketing department (they probably call it more like "being creative with math"). I've seen generic 600W PSUs die with a 350W load before -- it's not uncommon at all. Most generic PSUs fail WAY below the wattages they claim. Take some time to read this (and laugh a bit). Then you won't ever consider buying another no-name/generic PSU anymore ever (I hope so anyways). Hint: the very first PSU tested (a 650W junk unit) dies at 184W of load... I wish I could say I'm surprised. The better companies' products are a million times better. Not only they include good/useful/important features like Active PFC, 80+, better filtering, various optional protections and plenty of other reasons (better connector sets, modular designs, cleaner power, etc), but they can actually supply as much power as stated, in real-life situations (and high temps), where it counts/is needed. They will often pay for themselves, being 80+ and also by outlasting junk no-name units' lifetimes by a long shot. Garbage PSUs sell very well. Because they're cheap, and most people don't see past the one number (wattage). Just like some people don't see anything else than the clock speed when buying a CPU, or the megapixels when buying a camera. That provides a strong [monetary] incentive for continuing to sell junk unfortunately. Designing, building, testing and repairing SMPS'es is part of what I do for a living.

Well, AMD did have its glory moments. The Athlon64 was vastly better than the netburst junk IMO (and HT vs FSB), and I much preferred their idea of a 64 bit platform (what we now call x64) vs what Intel's idea of a 64 bit platform was (Itanic). But yeah, they used to be yet another cheap clone (much like Cyrix), and they're mostly back to being that (especially now that not only Intel has the superior CPU architecture again, but they also replaced the FSB for a HT-like bus i.e. QPI).