wutske

I doubt all of them are legal, but it's cool tough

I do use the GIMP, but I don't use it for advanced photo editing, just some basic stuff I don't need photoshop for

The problem is that ACDSee opens everytime a drive or folder is double-clicked.I've already managed to fix the problem for drives (by changing the default action), but it doesn't want to work for folders . Maybe it has something to do with the fact that 3 users were loged on to the computer, but I doubt that'll be the problem. I don't know when I have the chance to try fixing it, but I think I'm going to uninstall and reinstall the application first before trying again. If I find a solution, I'll post it here .

A girlfriend has a problem with ACDSee (for Pentax). For some reason it has been set as the default application for opening folders, so everytime a folder is clicked, ACDSee opens. If already tried to fix the file association (changing the default action, adding a new action that opens explorer, but it won't work ). I've also tried to untick the "browse with acdsee" option in ACDSee, but it doesn't remember this option.How can I fix this ?

Most people would by a cd/dvd-reader and a cd/dvd-writer if they often copy cds/dvds, but it's your choise

I even have a better way, don't use your keyboard with dirty fingers and especialy don't eat or drink when you sit behind your computer .By the way, nailpolishing your keyboard will keep the keyboard clean, but the nail polish will get dirty anyway, plus, I don't think many people will like the glossy look and feel on their keyboards (at least I wouldn't).My tips to cleaning your keyboard: use a vacuum cleaner to get the dust and dirt out of the keyboard and clean it with some disinfecting alcohol, kills the many germs that reside on ur keys

Nice system . Few remarks tough: The case comes with a (probably too weak for your system) power supply... kinda waste of money since you don't use it. Maybe the case is available without a power supply, might save you a few dollars CPU: I've checked the cpu compatibility list at the asus site ( http://www.asus.com/support ) and it looks like the cpu you've choosen isn't supported . Might want to do some research before buying this combination. MEM: If you want to use your 4Gb of RAM, then you'll probably have to upgrade to windows xp 64-bit edition, since you'll probably only going to be able to use 3Gb due to 32-bit platform limitations. CD/DVD-drive: hope you're not going to buy 2 identical cd-rw/dvd-rw drives ? Network card: the motherboard you've selected has an onboard Gigabit Ethernet card, no need to buy a second one (unless you need a second ethernet card ).

I don't use Microsoft Office anymore and I don't intend to do it unless my job (and having a job is not something that's going to happen in the first 2 years since I'm still studying) requires me to do so. I'm very happy with OpenOffice.org, it has all the features I need to create a nice looking document and exporting my documents to pdf is easy and perfect so I don't have to worry about any compatibility issues.The new 'frontpage' (Web Expression ?) is probably not going to be any better than frontpage, I still don't think microsoft is going to abandon all the IE-only tricks that frontpage had and since it's microsoft, it probably won't be XHTML-valid either .I honestly don't like the interface either, it's too big, too polished, too shiny ... I'm a huge fan of win2k/win9x looks, they are simple, compact yet clear and functional. The polished looks most applications have are boring after a while.So, no Microsoft Office for me

Unfortunately, GNU GPL equivalents usualy don't use all the available power a computer has because the developers just don't have the resources to do the neccesary research. It depents, I've heard about the optimus mini (or whatever the name of the 3-buttoned oled keyboard is) that it emits a high frequency pitch (btw. my pda's screen emits a high pitched noise too and it can be heard in quiet environments) so an optimus might be out of the question.

Maybe something like this ? http://www.wildpackets.com/rtna_video

Even tough I always hated it when I had to make it, I do agree that homework is essential. Homework allows students to pratice their skills instead of just waiting in class for the answer to come from a smarter student . Homework also trains other skills as searching for information, working independently or in group, preparing presentations, working in environments filled with distractions (like pcs, toys, books, ... ).

Best guess is that the monitor is having a hard time charging the caps that power the tube. Try to get it fixed, new, good CRT monitors are hard to find nowadays especialy if you want them for a good price.

what ... the ... **** . That's one sweet computer , but be honest, who needs that kind of power ? It reminds me of ghostriders hayabussa, overkill, but super sweet to see, hear and probable feel and ride .

jep you can, you just need someone on the inside, they receive cards (3 if I remember correctly) that they can give to friends allowing them to play WoW for free ... forever .

I don't believe in this kind of software, most of the time it only moves things from the RAM to the swap file ... making your system actualy slower . I prefer killing tasks that consume too much memory (or just continue working while I'm using 150% of the available RAM )

There are more technical factors that influence the bandwith. First of all, the cable between you and the street cabinet can only handle a certain amount of bandwith, the longer the cable, the less the bandwith it can handle (mostly due to attenuation and noise comming from other lines nearby) ... there is no way to get more bandwith out of a cable by using software tweaks. Another factor that influences the available bandwith is the bandwith between the ISP and the street cabinet. If everyone connected to the same street cabinet is downloading big files, then it might happen that the line between the street cabinet and the ISP becomes saturated. Since the bandwith is shared, this means that everybody will receive less bandwith.Of course, the other side (where you are downloading from) is limiting speeds too, even if you have a high speed optic fiber connection, downloading will be slow if the server at the other side is connected to the internet using a 56k modem. Slow hops will of course limit speed too.Returing to the software tweaks, single- or multithreaded applications can only speed up downloads if the connection between you and 'a' server is limited. This is best explained with an example: lets say we have 2 servers (without anyone connected to it) with a 100kbps uplink and you have a 100kbps downlink. Using download accelerators won't speed up anything. However, if you have a 200kpbs downlink, then you can speed up things by combining the uplinks from the two servers. I've already said this very often, but the only way to get faster internet is by upgrading your internetconnection (get a faster connection, get fiber optics, combine ADSL with ISDN using load balancing ...)

Yeah, but I've read that thei alpha dSLRs have noisy sensors . Btw, I'm not voting because there is no 'best' brand, every brand has sucky camera's in their line-up and the perfect camera doesn't exist. Ow, and you've forgotten a lot of brands like Fuji, Pentax, Hasselblad, ...

You should always start at the beginning, try to make some basic scripts that output some text, contain simple if-else statements, read and output folder content, ... You should learn by trying simple things, especialy if this is your first programming language you're learning.Something else that might help is interpreting php scripts that other people have written. Learning a programming language is actualy not different from learning a normal language.

Two other tips:- if you use a tripod and your camera his some kind of stabilisation feature build in, then you should disable it.- set the lens at the aperture that produces the sharpest result

Can't agree more with that

If internet would have never existed then I probably would be able to live without it. But because it exist I can't live with it anymore, it's some kind of addiction, looking for WiFi everywhere so I can go online with my pda . No internet would mean going to friends every day and doing nothing for school, because the internet allows me to do my homework and chat with several of my friends all day long. Looking for information would be a problem, there are libraries enough in the world, tough finding information would probably take a lot longer.

I don't even get to 1 hour a week

I don't even get to 1 hour a week . I used to play quite some games (*cough* demos ), but I don't find the time and motivation for it anymore.

Personaly, I do prefer Vista over XP as long as it's already started (starting up Vista is realy slow compared to XP). I've tweaked Vista, disabled useless features and dropped the annoying Aero interface and what is left of it is a fast environment. Huge memory usage ? No problem, I've seen my amount of free ram only drop below 512Mb once (when I was creating a panorama and allowed Autostitch to use 1Gb of RAM ). Compatibility, never had any serious problems with it (and if something can't be run under Vista then I can still use a virtual xp environment). Security ? Not a problem either, never had a virus nor crapware on Vista, it's just a matter of using the right tools.The new explorer and start menu are probably the most usefull improvements in Vista compared to XP, I do miss them everytime I use my main computer (has XP on it).So, basicly, Vista is my fav. altough I do realise that you'll need quite some memory to get it running decently (something that's not a problem for my laptop 8) )

I used to play with themes too a long time ago (I even remember installing windowblinds to transform W98SE into XP because my P1 couldn't handle XP ). The problem with themes is that they get bloody boring after a while, I'm so sick and tired of the blue luna theme, I even started to dislike the colour blue because of it . Other themes are nice, but they get boring too after a while and I don't want to waste my time looking for a new look and feel every 2 weeks. Other than that, I also don't want to waste time and resources on aero, the alt-tab thing is fun, but absolutly not usefull for me.