Activity for October 16

Review - The KMPlayer
2.9.4.1436 (Oct 16, 2009)

@ all the "Ask Toolbar" comments...is it really that difficult to uncheck 1 tick box?

@ been...without your consent? I wonder how I've managed to dodge the Ask Toolbar installation each time I've updated (could it possibly be that I actually read before clicking & you didn't?).

To the aforementioned;
If unchecking 1 tick box is too much for you to handle then this player is definitely WAY too advanced for you! Kindly step away from the keyboard and no one gets hurt. You may also want to consider improving your reading comprehension skills while you're at it.

Rating an excellent program 1 star because it has OPTIONAL Ask Toolbar included? A bit harsh just because you don't know how to uncheck a tick box don't you think. Do you also rate all other programs (no matter how good the are) with totally optional toolbars, etc. 1 star? It's a free program, the authors may just want a chance at some compensation for their work, but they make it an option. I'm just wondering how you'd handle the situation...you'd probably just make it payware, am I right? I bet you'd also whine if they dumped the optional toolbar and made KMPlayer payware (or any other free program that did so).

This has been my default player for ~2 years or so & it has played just about anything I've thrown at it. I haven't found anything that does as much and as well as KMPlayer. GOM Player never quite measured up & was always more buggy in my experience. KMPlayer plays some videos fine that VLC renders poorly. Yes I've found some files that KMPlayer has had problems with that another player did ok with, but it's a rarity.

It has a lot of advanced features & settings that can be overwhelming when you dig in (I've had to figure out how to undo a few things I'd accidently done by accidently keying in shortcuts), but that also maked it highly customizable. It does more than any other media player I know of.

Perfect? no, but consistantly better than any of the other media players I've tried in the past or recently.
Review - ReactOS
0.3.8 (Feb 6, 2009)

@madmike
I think it's obvious that the point is to make not just a free alternative OS, but a free true NT based windows alternative (written from scratch) that runs windows apps and uses windows drivers.

I'd love to see it go gold, Imagine all the possibilities, i.e. instead of offering linux as a windows alternative to cut prices, they could offer a true windows replacement instead, it would have been great if it had been up to speed for the OLPC project.

A lite free "windows" OS would be good for throwing together old "junker" pc's for file servers, grandparents or tiny tots that don't need much to run educational games, etc. (could save preschools money better spent elsewhere), after all, most of us have hardware sitting around, it's the OS that'd cost us to do such good deeds.

Progress may be slow, but at least they haven't given up like a lot of others have, and very few others were trying to be "windows replacements".

You never know, if they get this OS up to snuff it might effect MS OS pricing.

The site says that at v0.5 they'll consider it beta & suitable for every day use (not sure what that means as far as hardware/software compatabiity though). Gotta give it at least a 4 for their continued effort towards a real windows alternative, and not just making another *NIX OS.
Review - AntiVir Personal Edition for Windows
8.2.00.337 (Nov 28, 2008)

I switched from Avast! to Avira after reading http://www.av-comparatives.org

The nag screen only pops up after an update & clicking OK just closes the window, it doesn't take you to their site pr anything, so not a big deal. If you do a search you'll find that there is a rather simple way to disable it, but I believe there's also a possible downside to it.

My only problem is that I haven't gotten it to ignore complete hard drives under exceptions & the "nag" screens take focus from full screen games, after an auto update.
Review - Yahoo! Messenger for Windows
8.1.0.416 (Aug 22, 2007)

@osric, that's very strange, in my experience it's always given the option; on the screen where it shows 2 tick boxes at the bottom look towards top for the customized install option, perhaps you might have missed it since it's not in a standard place, I know I did the 1st time.
Review - Yahoo! Messenger for Windows
8.1.0.415 (Aug 20, 2007)

@osric, use the "customized" install option & you can uncheck everything.

I still find Yahoo! to be the best mainstream IM client, and many of the bells & whistles, as well as other settings are useful to me. I was hoping it would inherit a few of the MSN functions when they "merged" or whatever they called it, but that didn't happen. Sure it's got a few bugs & lacks desireable features that other clients have, but don't they all?

I find alternative clients to be too limited as far as native funtions go.

I don't use the chat rooms, so I can't comment on that.
Comment - DHS: Expect your computer to be seized without suspicion
8.1.0.415 (Aug 28, 2009 - 8:22 PM)

He's not going to end it, he's out to EXTEND it. He's not pro citizen, he's PrObama & he's out to force his agenda down out throats until we spiral from world power to 3rd world country with him in the dictator's seat.
Comment - FCC still needs a good definition for 'broadband'
8.1.0.415 (Aug 21, 2009 - 3:18 AM)

My parents' DSL (WindStream) is 512kb/s (not sure about upload), I'd never heard of DSL being less than 768kb/s. Sad thing is it's the same price Verizon charges for 768kb/s DSL (too bad Verizon doesn't service their area), the only consolation it that they're right across the street (~ 75 feet away) from the vault (they're ~ 6-7 miles out of town) & get top speed. Still seems like a ripoff to me, there's no reason to gimp it like that other than greed. I think 1 Mb/s down should be rock bottom for broadband & that at under $20 mo.
Comment - Mozilla chief: Microsoft ballot screen leaves IE 'uniquely privileged'
8.1.0.415 (Aug 21, 2009 - 3:04 AM)

"Choosing another browser as a 'default' does not mean that the other browser takes the place of IE," Baker writes. "For example, the IE logo ('shortcut') still remains unchanged on the desktop. The shortcut / logo of the browser the user has selected does not replace this, it is added elsewhere. As a result, the familiar location remains IE, not the user's choice."

Why should it? Does default mean ONLY? I'm sorry, but every browser has it's strengths & weaknesses, so why whould I only want the default to show & all others be hidden?I use IE8/Avant, Opera AND Fx (the proper abbreviation for Firefox), so should I have to jump through hoops & change default every time I need to use a different browser because the icons get commandeered by the current default browser? What if I want to use them all simultaneously? Who's next to join in the whinefest?

Fx has messed with my defaults, even though it's not my default browser, after it once set itself as default a few programs won't let go of it no matter what I try, it's very annoying.

I say the no browser idea is the only "fair" one, no way to say that MS "positioned" their browser more favorably & let 'em sort out for themselves how to install their browser of choice...being too demanding can have consequences, now go explain to your citizens how you just made life so much better for them (on their Euro at that). Let them resurrect the EU extension of the old Sneakernet Express! That or educate all the peolpe who don't even know what a command line is to Telnet or FTP to get their browser of choice...that should be rather interesting since most over or under a certain age range wouldn't know DOS, let alone how to use it if it bit them.

Why not forgo graphic browsers in favor of text based browser (of course they'd most likely throw a tantrum over which of those to make default too)?

Why not just extend this idiocy to OS of choice, Email client, Office Suite, etc., etc., ad infinitum as well, or are those next on the EC's agenda?

/whinefest (the EC should do the same)
Comment - New bill could make texting while driving illegal nationwide
8.1.0.415 (Jul 30, 2009 - 1:48 AM)

Yet another case of, "They actually had to make a Law?!". So much for "common sense dictates...", so many self absorbed people out there today that oblivious to the fact that they're a danger to themselves and others (don't they put people in institutions for that?).

They may make laws, but it only works if they're enforced (and if people actually obey them). I see cops on cell phones all the time, I've seen them blow through lights with their cells to their ear...no lights or sirens, so it wasn't an emergency situation. So much for having to use a hands free set, nice way to set an example. i guess they must be above the law. I'd like to know how to ticket those hypocrites.

Makes you want to walk up, rap loudly on their window & when they roll it down, grab their cell & tell them they can have it back when they learn to obey the rules.
Comment - Lawsuit against US on IP trade agreement dropped for national security
8.1.0.415 (Jun 20, 2009 - 5:25 PM)

Thanks for clearing that up. I figured a search would come up with something, but it didn't.