Theory Patch » Random Posts

Soluto; Anti-Frustration Software

Kevin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 20:30:52 +0000

What is it?

After you install Soluto on your computer it keeps track of all of the programs that load when you start your computer, keeps track of how long each program takes to load, graphs your boot up length over time, and it shows you whether or not each program can be turned off our delayed in booting. The theory behind it is great! Most people will notice that over time their computer gets slower and slower. One of the leading causes of this is that the longer they have the computer, the more programs they install, and therefore the more programs end up running at boot time. Soluto seems like a good way to keep track of that. I've only used it for a couple of days, so I can't attest to the long-term graphing. Check out the screen shot below to see how boot up programs are organized. The orange boxes on the left represent 'potentially removable' and the gray boxes on the right are keepers. I had another few boxes on the left marked as 'no brainers' for removal but... they've been removed!

Where do I get it?

Head on over to Soluto's web-site.

Buy.com Will Rip You Off

Kevin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 23:07:55 +0000

I was recently in the market for an elusive projector lamp. Of course our typical vendors did not have the item stocked. So, I went to buy.com and attempted to purchase the lamp on their site. Well once I got to the finalize order screen the process froze. The web-site buttons became unresponsive and I couldn't move the process along. So, I went and ordered the lamp part else where.

A week later a lamp arrived in a non-marked box. (It wasn't even the right model lamp that I was looking for in the first place) After some digging I found out that they had also billed the debit card, BUT they never sent a confirmation email and there was not an invoice in the box. So I gave them a call. Their support wasn't any help either. They apparently have to contact the reseller that sent us the lamp to 'check on their return policy'. Needless to say, we opened up a case with MasterCard...

Hopefully, you can learn from my mistakes! Stay as far away as possible from Buy.com. Here's why...

Their web-site breaks
They don't send order confirmations
They send out the wrong part
They can't give you a refund
They suck

Virtual Clone Drive

Kevin — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:13:12 +0000

Looking for a clean alternative to Daemon Tools for working with .iso files? How about giving Virtual Clone Drive a spin? It's freeware, it doesn't come with bloat-ware, and it allows you to mount and use .iso files. Need I say more? Head on over to their web-site to download.

Auto-IT a Geeks Scripting Language

Kevin — Tue, 11 May 2010 17:21:31 +0000

Interested in deploying an installation package to 100 computers but don't want to select 'next, next, I do not want to install tool bar, install' on each computer? Package the installation up with an Auto-IT script. Using Auto-IT you can write a script that will launch your installation, select options or enter key presses, and finish the installation for you. Learning how to script in Auto-IT can save you a lot of time if you have a large number of computers to support. Also, if you are familiar with scripting or any other programming language you should find Auto IT easy to write in. I was pleasantly surprised at how straight forward the functions are. If this kind of automation sparks your interest, head over to Auto-IT's web-site to check it out.

The Definition of Irony

admin — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:22:34 +0000

For about a month now I had been suffering through slo-o-ow shutdown speeds on my work computer. It would take roughly 15-45 minutes for my computer to turn off. That's uh... way too fucking long. Anyways, per a colleagues recommendation I removed Window's Internet Explorer 8 feature, then re-enabled it. That is basically the equivalent of uninstalling Internet Explorer 8 and reinstalling. After doing that my shutdown speed has gone back to normal.

I believe that Windows checks to see if any policy settings need to be applied while you are shutting down your computer. I'm fairly certain that this check runs in Internet Explorer 8. Does anyone else find it mildly ironic that Internet Explorer 8 broke my Windows Shutdown process? Has Microsoft really fallen that far behind in browser development..?

Wow.

Feedly; my new favorite Firefox plug-in

Kevin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:52:58 +0000

Let's face it. Internet Explorer is out, and Firfox / Chrome is in. Recently I've been on a Firefox kick due to it's ease of use and plentiful plug-ins available. My new favorite plug-in is Feedly. It creates a custom RSS start page for you. Basically, you feed it all of the news web-sites that you usually read and it will condense them down for you in an easy to read magazine like page. The best part for me was that I was able to log-in to my Google account, and it automatically pulled in blogs I had added to my Google reader. I also like how it adds an icon near the firefox URL browser bar for easy access (as shown below). So if you are interested in an awesome RSS reader head here to get it.

GigaTweaker for Windows 7

Kevin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:17:15 +0000

I was pleasantly surprised with GigaTweaker. It does a nice job of wrapping up system tweaks that are spread all around your system. Rather than look for them all manually, you can use this program which puts them into a few basic groups: Administration, Display, Customization, Communication, and Maintenance. There are too many tweaks available for me to list them all here. All I can really say about the program is that it works well and you should head to download if you are interested in trying it out. Remember, this only works for Windows 7.

One 'tweak' that sparked my interest is under Customization -> System. There you can set Windows to execute the Desktop, Taskbar, and folders to separate Windows processes. That way, if explorer ever freezes up on you performance recovery should be smoother. I've made that tweak, but can't say I've had a noticeable difference in performance. Everything ran smooth before the change and is running smooth after. If it works like advertised though... this may be a valuable tweak that more users should be aware of.

GigaTweaker

LAN Centers

Kevin — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:12:08 +0000

There's nothing better than being able to reach to play a video game with someone and be able to reach over a few feet and punch them in the arm when they kill you at your spawn point five times in a row. Hold that thought, I just though of something better. Being able to punch the opponent in the arm while you are surrounding by other gamers, all the mainstream gaming consoles, neon green lighting, and techno music. Yep, punching the opponent in the arm just got better. That's why I love LAN centers! Over the weekend I paid a visit to my local game center, Crazy Penguins, and had a blast. Played everything from Call of Duty to Mario Party on the Wii. So, if your tired of gaming alone, look up your local LAN center and pay them a visit!

Video Games that echo an eternity

Kevin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Last night I was a bit bored, so I hopped onto good old fashioned Counter-Strike 1.6. I played for a little over an hour. It was a lot of fun, what I don't understand is how can a game so old be better than many many games that have come out after it. I guess it's the same reason why I still have fun playing Starcraft or Warcraft 3. The games are just done right. The developers didn't get caught up in having the best graphics, like so many do, instead they worried about the game play.

Why do I still play the game Chess? The same reason I still play CS 1.6, because it's a good game! So, if you happen to be a game developer, worry about the game play! I'd be happy with cartoon graphics if the game is solid!

TeraCopy

Kevin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 00:02:08 +0000

Have you ever noticed that Windows isn't the best at copying large files or a large number of files at the same time? Windows Explorer, the default application that handles the copies, really just isn't the greatest. It bugs out on occasion, generally takes a long time, and can plague you with annoying error messages. TeraCopy is a great alternative to explorer that you can pick up for the low low price of free. Here's why I like it..

If TeraCopy encounters an error while copying it will continue with the copy
You can Pause/Resume copies
It seems to copy faster than explorer
If there is an error while copying, TeraCopy will automatically try again to fix it
It works on Windows 7 64-bit!

If you are interested in getting your copy on, head over to TeraCopy's web-site.