Author Topic: The computing stuff rant thread (Read 403888 times)

pcolbeck · « **Reply #500 on:** 21 February, 2015, 10:16:29 am »

+1

I have a lovely eight core i7 Lenovo Thinkpad laptop next to me right now. I blew away the Windows 8.1 it came with and installed Linux instead. Windows now runs from a clean install inside VMware Workstation on it for when I need to access to Windows only programs.

barakta · « **Reply #501 on:** 21 February, 2015, 08:38:02 pm »

Blowing away windows and buying or obtaining another clean copy is all well and good for us nerds, but 80% of the population don't want to have to know this to "just use a computer".

Lenovo's reputation deserves to go to shit for this and the other manufacturers will hopefully learn from their competitor's experience and be less evil and sloppy.

ian · « **Reply #502 on:** 21 February, 2015, 09:33:30 pm »

What's the margin on a cheap mass market laptop or desktop? I'm sure it's pretty they're buzzing their costs (and if you are selling the price of a bag of components, then someone else sells the same bag of components cheaper and you're fucked because you aren't Apple). Of course they're going to ladle in any kind of shit that makes them an extra fraction of a per cent. That's the business and that's why you can get a decent laptop for £300. That and Chinese workers.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #503 on:** 21 February, 2015, 09:37:11 pm »

Lenovo offers tool to remove hidden adware 'Superfish'. Nice, but better not to install crapware in the first place, eh?

David Martin · « **Reply #504 on:** 22 February, 2015, 03:12:37 pm »

Son's laptop is now suitably suprfish free - pretty easy job to sort but should not have been necessary.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #505 on:** 22 February, 2015, 05:20:37 pm »

Microsith! How hard can it be for Word to treat a file called "junk.txt" as plain fucking text?

Afasoas · « **Reply #506 on:** 22 February, 2015, 05:50:30 pm »

I'm thinking it might lead to some real bargains on Lenovo kit.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #507 on:** 23 February, 2015, 01:15:57 am »

Unpleasant noises of a rotating kind emanating from the entrails of the laptop. I hope it's just the fan choking on a mixture of fag ash and biscuit crumbs, otherwise things could get annoying/tedious/stabby.

Afasoas · « **Reply #508 on:** 23 February, 2015, 02:32:22 pm »

Argh! Group Policy. Deployment. & Software houses that choose to install their software their own way.
Yes it's all well and good migrating configuration data from ye olde version to ye neue hippier version when an upgrade is initiated from within the tool. But that's not really very practical in a corporate desktop environment. Why not have a proper MSI installer that handles the migration of configuration data? I mean, you author pretty spendy software ergo I'm sure producing an MSI that plays nice with Windows isn't beyond comprehension.

tiermat · « **Reply #509 on:** 23 February, 2015, 08:32:58 pm »

Quote from: Afasoas on 23 February, 2015, 02:32:22 pm

Argh! Group Policy. Deployment. & Software houses that choose to install their software their own way.
Yes it's all well and good migrating configuration data from ye olde version to ye neue hippier version when an upgrade is initiated from within the tool. But that's not really very practical in a corporate desktop environment. Why not have a proper MSI installer that handles the migration of configuration data? I mean, you author pretty spendy software ergo I'm sure producing an MSI that plays nice with Windows isn't beyond comprehension.

That, my son, is why software packagers get paid silly money on projects where everything MUST be deployed as a package.

Afasoas · « **Reply #510 on:** 24 February, 2015, 11:45:42 am »

Quote from: David Martin on 22 February, 2015, 03:12:37 pm

Son's laptop is now suitably suprfish free - pretty easy job to sort but should not have been necessary.

Superfish was implementing a Komdia library that introduced this SSL vulnerability. Looks like the Komodia library is used in other products, including Lavasoft's anti-virus.

Allegedly worse still is Privdog adware that ships with Software from Comodo.

The words iceberg and tip spring to mind.

http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=17991

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #511 on:** 24 February, 2015, 01:38:50 pm »

Quote from: Mr Larrington on 22 February, 2015, 05:20:37 pm

Microsith! How hard can it be for Word to treat a file called "junk.txt" as plain fucking text?

I gave up. Opened it in Excel.

Wombat · « **Reply #512 on:** 24 February, 2015, 09:04:42 pm »

Virginmedia! You can't be called Virgin because your system is totally fucked! I have a job interview tomorrow and I need to access a lot of files I have emailed home, for revision. Can I, can I buggery? You total utter bastards. Pop3 email is down, webmail is down, but strangely it works on Android, but not on either PC... I need to read a file that I can't access, on my big monitor, 'cos its a stupidly formatted PDF, but Mrs W used the big PC today, and now it is totally ****ed. Resorted to laptop, and no access to Virgin, can't sign in, can't access any email. If I don't get the job tomorrow, are you going to support me till I retire?

woollypigs · « **Reply #513 on:** 24 February, 2015, 09:07:40 pm »

If you can install Airdroid or ES filer explore on Android you can move files from the Android to you laptop/PC.

EDIT: and good luck tomorrow

Wombat · « **Reply #514 on:** 25 February, 2015, 08:17:56 am »

In the end I managed to access them on my phone, and forward the emails to my gmail account, which I then opened on the laptop. All time wasted, which didn't help.

Need to get back to revising now, on the bits I'm a bit weak on. Its going to be an awkward interview, I know all three interviewers, and they know I never wear the suit I'll be wearing today, but the other interviewees will be wearing one, so I must. The PC screwing up was not needed, yesterday of all days, then Virgin compounding it by failing really put the tin hat on it. I've got monday and tuesday off, so I think a software rebuild of the PC on the new SSD is in order. Not found time to do it due to decorating, but now the issue is forced.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #515 on:** 26 February, 2015, 02:36:41 am »

Mega-Global Fruit Corporation of Cupertino, USAnia! Thank you for updating iTunes, though I did wonder why you felt the need to reboot the Win 8 machine when the XP one kept chuntering away quite happily. However, that is not why I am cross, no, I am cross because your update put an iTunes shortcut on the desktop. Was there an iTunes ishortcut on the desktop before the update?

Why, no! No, there was not!

Did your update ask me if I wanted an iTunes shortcut on the desktop?

Why, no! No, it did not!

Now I like to keep my desktop free from clutter, the better to see the wallpaper and remind myself of holibobs. To cover bits of it up without even asking is the height of bad manners and therefore I should be much obliged if you were to cease, desist and fuck the fuck off.

David Martin · « **Reply #516 on:** 26 February, 2015, 11:47:46 pm »

Fruity fondleslabs. Are they deliberately setup to be bloody useless for normal folk? I have a movie file I want to place on the flat thingy of a colleague. No cable, her machine so I don't have any passwords except the pin to get in. It won't save files locally. It will play off the web. Clicking 'download' doesn't.

So it is a piece of shiny that I can't get photos/videos/files onto without some extra hardware or software. What is the point?

Gattopardo · « **Reply #517 on:** 27 February, 2015, 01:37:40 am »

Installing win 7 on an acer d255, and wireless does not work.....argh

ian · « **Reply #518 on:** 27 February, 2015, 08:10:19 am »

Quote from: David Martin on 26 February, 2015, 11:47:46 pm

Fruity fondleslabs. Are they deliberately setup to be bloody useless for normal folk? I have a movie file I want to place on the flat thingy of a colleague. No cable, her machine so I don't have any passwords except the pin to get in. It won't save files locally. It will play off the web. Clicking 'download' doesn't.

So it is a piece of shiny that I can't get photos/videos/files onto without some extra hardware or software. What is the point?

Let me introduce you to iTunes, the software lovechild of Finestre, the Demon of Such Things, and Proteus IV.

tiermat · « **Reply #519 on:** 27 February, 2015, 10:13:14 am »

Quote from: Gattopardo on 27 February, 2015, 01:37:40 am

Installing win 7 on an acer d255, and wireless does not work.....argh

Rule of thumb, unless using the recovery CDs, ALWAYS have another way of accessing the internet to download drivers(and a USB sneakernet in place), you'll need it.

Gattopardo · « **Reply #520 on:** 27 February, 2015, 11:24:16 am »

Quote from: tiermat on 27 February, 2015, 10:13:14 am

Quote from: Gattopardo on 27 February, 2015, 01:37:40 am
Installing win 7 on an acer d255, and wireless does not work.....argh

Rule of thumb, unless using the recovery CDs, ALWAYS have another way of accessing the internet to download drivers(and a USB sneakernet in place), you'll need it.

Oh I thought of that, planned the upgrade from xp to windows7 and it is still being a pain. Seems fine with win8/8.1 and flavours of linux just not 7. Seem to see the wireless network and then not see any.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #521 on:** 27 February, 2015, 07:09:34 pm »

Craghoppers, your web site is this: absolutely fucking appalling

Did anyone actually test it from a mobile device?

I need some new trousers and after encountering that fucking shambles I doubt I will be buying them from you.

Edit: I take back some of the above. It looks like you didn't test it on a proper Babbage-Engine either. Slower than a 2CV chained to a block of concrete and a page for entering address details that defies belief in its sheer awfulness. You say the State or Region field is mandatory even though you already know I'm in BRITAIN. You blank out half my street address after I've entered it. You get confused by "London" as a post town. If I didn't like your kecks so much...

T42 · « **Reply #522 on:** 02 March, 2015, 11:12:28 am »

Serif. Because the syph can be cured.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #523 on:** 02 March, 2015, 09:04:27 pm »

Microsith! See this?

Would it therefore being asking too much of you to open IE the way it was when it was closed? You know, like Firefox and Chrome do?

Gattopardo · « **Reply #524 on:** 03 March, 2015, 03:40:33 am »

Quote from: Gattopardo on 27 February, 2015, 11:24:16 am

Quote from: tiermat on 27 February, 2015, 10:13:14 am
Quote from: Gattopardo on 27 February, 2015, 01:37:40 am
Installing win 7 on an acer d255, and wireless does not work.....argh

Rule of thumb, unless using the recovery CDs, ALWAYS have another way of accessing the internet to download drivers(and a USB sneakernet in place), you'll need it.

Oh I thought of that, planned the upgrade from xp to windows7 and it is still being a pain. Seems fine with win8/8.1 and flavours of linux just not 7. Seem to see the wireless network and then not see any.

Decided to update the lappy with a cable from the router. So how many updates and how many days does it take?

And it still hasn't got wifi working. Maybe it could be the wifi channel.

Author Topic: The computing stuff rant thread (Read 403888 times)

ian

Afasoas

Afasoas

Afasoas

ian