Show Posts - Mama Luigi - Gaming World Forums

General Talk English buffs, help!

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Mama Luigi

March 17, 2010, 02:31:59 am

Wind of Peace
Group: Premium Member
Joined: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 1282

I was arguing with a friend regarding a billboard lacking grammar because I'm a fucking nerd. I'm curious as to which punctuation marks would make the following sentence grammatically correct?:

God's finest creation a baby!

I said that the following are valid grammatical sentences:

God's finest creation: a baby!
God's finest creation — a baby!

He said the following were valid:

God's finest creation; a baby!
God's finest creation — a baby!

He texted his girlfriend, and she said only

God's finest creation; a baby!

was valid.

Who is right, and more importantly how badly are America's school systems failing when people believe this is the place for a semicolon?

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Entertainment and Media Steam Games on Sale

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Mama Luigi

December 23, 2009, 05:22:37 am

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Joined: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 1282

Hey figured I'd pass the word on about Steam's holiday sale going on right now. Some of these games are ridiculously cheap.

Some of the highlights:

Grand Theft Auto IV - $7.49!!!
Mirror's Edge - $4.99
World of Goo - $4.99
Medieval II: Total War - $4.99
Braid - $2.49
Audiosurf - $2.49
Indigo Prophecy - $3.39
DiRT - $9.99

Among many many others. Looks like most of the deals end January 3rd but they are switching out some of the deals over the course of the next two weeks as well so be mindful of that.

http://store.steampowered.com/

What are you waiting for? Get shopping

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Technology and Programming Unopened Office 2008 for Mac

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Mama Luigi

September 04, 2009, 04:36:08 pm

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Joined: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 1282

Office:mac 2008
Special Media Center Edition

A friend gave this for him to sell and offered to split the return. He obtained it off the Microsoft retail zone website or something like that... I can confirm it is a 100% legal copy and is still in the cellophane wrap. This is the best and most expensive version of Office 2008 for the Mac.

As you can see from the photo, it says in big bold letters NOT FOR RESALE. I'm not sure whether or not that makes it technically illegal for me to sell... but it's just a sticker on the box that can be taken off once the cellophane wrap comes off.

Here's a link with more info on the Microsoft Expression Media that comes with this version of Office 2008 that doesn't come with the cheaper ones: http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/expression-media.mspx

Amazon - 191.55 w/ free shipping
eBay - looks like they sell right around $100

I'm willing to part with it for $80 shipped. Not only is that $110 better than buying it off Amazon, but it's likely cheaper than buying it off eBay.

Why aren't I selling it on eBay? Well... that whole NOT FOR RESALE thing kind of bugs me. I can trust you guys not to rat me out

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Entertainment and Media Help me find my long lost loev

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Mama Luigi

May 02, 2009, 12:44:31 am

Wind of Peace
Group: Premium Member
Joined: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 1282

This is one of those 'help me find an old game' threads.

So I'm looking for this old (most likely DOS) game I played on Win95 where you had an army that you built yourself filled with druids, clerics, arches, theifs, and things like that. You progresed through levels and your army would level up and you could buy more troops at any given time.

I originally got the game off of AOL's old kid's-only games section (I think... this game surprisingly had blood splatter where you killed people) and now I cannot find it!

So any help from you chaps would be appreciated

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Technology and Programming 3DMark Vantage up for grabs

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Mama Luigi

March 30, 2009, 06:57:46 pm

Wind of Peace
Group: Premium Member
Joined: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 1282

This is going to be a really dumb topic (I don't even know if this is against the rules or w/e) but yeah, I got a code for 3DMark Vantage 2009 with my video card and I'm looking to get rid of it as I already own it. I'll sell it for $3.00 through paypal if anyone is interested. This software is normally $19.99 but obviously it isn't worth that much without the disc.

I would PM or e-mail you the code and you would download the software here: http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmarkvantage/download/

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Technology and Programming Make OSX look like Vista?

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Mama Luigi

November 20, 2008, 08:19:52 pm

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Group: Premium Member
Joined: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 1282

I'm using a Mac at school and I want to make it look like Vista. Is this possible? I know on Windows you can make it look like OSX though programs like WindowBlinds and ObjectDock but I want to do it the other way around.

I'm using OSX Tiger 10.4.11

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Technology and Programming Anybody Know Flash?

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Mama Luigi

April 29, 2008, 06:45:27 pm

Wind of Peace
Group: Premium Member
Joined: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 1282

I've got this problem with a little thumbnail viewer I made in Flash. I want it so that when you rollover one of the buttons, it shows some text associated with that button. Here's what I have so far:

I know... it looks like I'm a pro or something. I just followed some tutorial on the internet to get it this far though. I don't even know how to make a loading screen! Would someone kindly help me figure this out? I tried to make some dynamic text with the var dyntxt, and then I added this code to the actions of one of the buttons:

Code:[Select]

on (rollOver) {
dyntxt = "Project by: Mr. Smith";
}
on (rollOut) {
dyntxt = "Rollover one of the above projects for more information";
}

That doesn't work! Perhaps my actions layer is screwing everything up, but I need that. Perhaps someone could amend my actions layer... or just give me some direction here.

Here's my source stuff (might take a bit to download).

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Technology and Programming Bought 4GB CF... was I screwed?

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Mama Luigi

April 28, 2008, 02:03:20 am

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Group: Premium Member
Joined: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 1282

I don't know shit about read/write speed jargon but I recently bought a 4GB CompactFlash card that was advertised as 150x. I ran a test on it with the program called SiSoftware Sandra Lite. Here were the results:

first test I did on shitty inadequate hardware (Click to reveal)

Quote from: Benchmark Results on the CF card

SiSoftware Sandra

Benchmark Results
Device Index : 774ops/minute
Endurance Factor : 20.00
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.

Performance Test Status
Run ID : Generic USB CF Reader 4GB (USB)
Platform Compliance : x86
System Timer : 25MHz

512bytes Files Test
Read Performance : 6649ops/minute, 55.41kB/s, 0.37X
Write Performance : 1300ops/minute, 10.83kB/s, 0.07X
Delete Performance : 1982ops/minute
File Fragments : 1.0
Combined Index : 2268ops/minute

32kB Files Test
Read Performance : 1370ops/minute, 730.67kB/s, 4.87X
Write Performance : 697ops/minute, 371.73kB/s, 2.48X
Delete Performance : 1529ops/minute
File Fragments : 1.0
Combined Index : 850ops/minute

256kB Files Test
Read Performance : 222ops/minute, 947.20kB/s, 6.31X
Write Performance : 162ops/minute, 691.20kB/s, 4.61X
Delete Performance : 641ops/minute
File Fragments : 1.0
Combined Index : 164ops/minute

2MB Files Test
Read Performance : 28ops/minute, 955.73kB/s, 6.37X
Write Performance : 19ops/minute, 648.53kB/s, 4.32X
Delete Performance : 925ops/minute
File Fragments : 1.0
Combined Index : 21ops/minute

64MB Files Test
Read Performance : 1ops/minute, 1.07MB/s, 7.28X
Write Performance : 1ops/minute, 1.07MB/s, 7.28X
Delete Performance : 100ops/minute
File Fragments : 1.0
Combined Index : 1ops/minute

Endurance Test Status
Operating System Disk Cache Used : No
Use Overlapped I/O : No
Test File Size : 32MB
Block Size : 512bytes
File Fragments : 1

Endurance Benchmark Breakdown
Repeated Sector ReWrite : 120kB/s
Sequential Sector Write : 117kB/s
Random Sector Write : 4kB/s

Drive
Total Size : 3.77GB
Free Space : 3.77GB, 100%
Cluster Size : 4kB

Physical Disk
Manufacturer : Generic
Model : USB CF Reader
Version : 1.01
Interface : USB
Removable Drive : Yes
Queueing On : No

Performance Tips
Notice 5901 : CD 1x= 150kB/s; Exercise caution when comparing measured versus published CD ratings.
Notice 5008 : To change benchmarks, click Options.
Notice 5004 : Synthetic benchmark. May not tally with 'real-life' performance.
Notice 5006 : Only compare the results with ones obtained using the same version!
Notice 5207 : Consider using the File System Benchmark for non-Flash devices.
Notice 5900 : Endurance factor can only be used on the same type of device (SLC or MLC).
Tip 11 : Use the 'Switch Chart Type' button to switch between Detailed and Combined charts.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

second test on a better card reader (Click to reveal)

Quote from: Benchmark Results

SiSoftware Sandra

Benchmark Results
Device Index : 3424ops/minute
Endurance Factor : 48.80
Results Interpretation : Higher index values are better.

Performance Test Status
Run ID : Generic USB CF Reader 4GB (USB)
Platform Compliance : x86
System Timer : 25MHz

512bytes Files Test
Read Performance : 28563ops/minute, 238.03kB/s, 1.59X
Write Performance : 3649ops/minute, 30.41kB/s, 0.20X
Delete Performance : 6598ops/minute
File Fragments : 1.0
Combined Index : 7408ops/minute

32kB Files Test
Read Performance : 14797ops/minute, 7.71MB/s, 52.61X
Write Performance : 2018ops/minute, 1.05MB/s, 7.18X
Delete Performance : 3456ops/minute
File Fragments : 1.0
Combined Index : 4093ops/minute

256kB Files Test
Read Performance : 2573ops/minute, 10.72MB/s, 73.19X
Write Performance : 603ops/minute, 2.51MB/s, 17.15X
Delete Performance : 941ops/minute
File Fragments : 1.0
Combined Index : 1042ops/minute

2MB Files Test
Read Performance : 429ops/minute, 14.30MB/s, 97.62X
Write Performance : 58ops/minute, 1.93MB/s, 13.20X
Delete Performance : 1668ops/minute
File Fragments : 1.0
Combined Index : 136ops/minute

64MB Files Test
Read Performance : 13ops/minute, 13.87MB/s, 94.66X
Write Performance : 8ops/minute, 8.53MB/s, 58.25X
Delete Performance : 766ops/minute
File Fragments : 1.0
Combined Index : 9ops/minute

256MB Files Test
Read Performance : 3ops/minute, 12.80MB/s, 87.38X
Write Performance : 2ops/minute, 8.53MB/s, 58.25X
Delete Performance : 197ops/minute
File Fragments : 1.0
Combined Index : 2ops/minute

Endurance Test Status
Operating System Disk Cache Used : No
Use Overlapped I/O : No
Test File Size : 32MB
Block Size : 512bytes
File Fragments : 1

Endurance Benchmark Breakdown
Repeated Sector ReWrite : 237kB/s
Sequential Sector Write : 346kB/s
Random Sector Write : 4kB/s

Drive
Total Size : 3.77GB
Free Space : 3.77GB, 100%
Cluster Size : 4kB

Physical Disk
Manufacturer : Generic
Model : USB CF Reader
Version : 1.01
Interface : USB
Removable Drive : Yes
Queueing On : No

Performance Tips
Notice 5901 : CD 1x= 150kB/s; Exercise caution when comparing measured versus published CD ratings.
Notice 5008 : To change benchmarks, click Options.
Notice 5004 : Synthetic benchmark. May not tally with 'real-life' performance.
Notice 5006 : Only compare the results with ones obtained using the same version!
Notice 5207 : Consider using the File System Benchmark for non-Flash devices.
Notice 5900 : Endurance factor can only be used on the same type of device (SLC or MLC).
Tip 11 : Use the 'Switch Chart Type' button to switch between Detailed and Combined charts.
Tip 2 : Double-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.

I have a feeling this are really shitty scores and I can expect this card to NOT suffice for a dSLR camera. That's just the impression I'm getting though, and I'm not exactly well-informed on this kind of thing. Any pros want to help me understand these figures?

EDIT: Jesus I used a different card reader and things look a LOT better for this card. It even outperformed the much spendier SanDisk Extreme III in some areas.

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Technology and Programming Help!: Business Owners

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Mama Luigi

February 16, 2008, 07:49:04 pm

Wind of Peace
Group: Premium Member
Joined: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 1282

So here's the scoop:

My mom is going to be starting a business which deals with bridal and ladies formal wear (wedding dresses, etc). She's been rather vague so far in describing what this business is all about (how she looks to supply a demand, where it's going to be located, how everything is going to work, etc), but she has led me to believe a point of sale machine is exactly what she needs for most of her business work.

So what is a point of sale machine? This is an example of a point of sale system.

The problem is that - since this is just a small business on a small budget - we don't have thousands of dollars to spend on this thing. So I did some investigation and, as expected, point of sale machines can be built out of any computer. Awesome, so we can spend just over a $1000 on a point of sale machine instead of $2500+ for the same funtionality! So, as per recommendation of this site, I started picking out the parts. We do not need a barcode reader, so that was left out.

The heart of this machine:
-A decent desktop PC. It may be overkill as far as performance is concerned, so we may look for a cheaper solution.
-19" LCD. The nice thing about this is that my mom could easily slide the screen to face the customer to show them the dresses or whatever.

The hardware:
-A receipt printer.
-A credit card reader.
-Cash drawer. Supposedly good compatibility.
-Cable that connects to receipt printer.

The software:
-Microsoft Office Accounting Proffesional 2008 or Quickbooks Pro 2008. I'm not sure which yet, I've heard QuickBooks has terrible customer support but it's the program you're supposed to use with this:
-Retail Plus 2.0. Unless I can find better point of sale software, this is what I will have to use. I've downloaded it and it seems pretty easy to setup.

What does everybody think? Does anyone have any experience with this kind of thing? Any recommendations? I could also use help on making up my mind about the Quickbooks vs. Microsoft Office Accounting. On the one hand, Quickbooks appears to be supported by the Retail Plus 2 software. It asks you for where you have your Quickbooks company file located in the setup so maybe that would be the best bet? On the other hand, Microsoft's stuff will probably be a lot easier for my mom to adapt to, but it looks like Retail Plus 2 won't integrate with that in the slightest.

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Technology and Programming Fried Computer While Burning CD

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Mama Luigi

November 21, 2007, 05:50:43 am

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Group: Premium Member
Joined: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 1282

I don't know how to explain it, but I think I ruined my computer (or a component in my computer) by BURNING A CD. I'm trying to troubleshoot what's wrong... I'll give as much detail as I can and hopefully you all can help me figure this mess out

I was listening to music through Frostwire and burning an ISO to a CD-RW through Nero 7. Suddenly everything locked up completely (couldn't move mouse, time in taskbar didn't change, couldn't ctrl+alt+delete) and the sound coming out of the speaker was just a fraction of a second of the song repeating over and over again like a broken record. As frustrating as it was to have that RW now corrupted, I figured I'd restart the computer and wipe the disc and reburn it. I hit the restart button on the case, I get past the BIOS and such. I get to a black screen with nothing but a cursor in the middle. I can't move the cursor... it's locked up again. I reboot. This time I at least get to my desktop and the taskbar loads, but again I can't move the mouse... and ARGH, it has locked up again - the keyboard does nothing and the LED on my computer isn't doing anything anymore. I try yet another reboot, and every time since then I cannot get past this screen without the loading bar freezing during the loading proces.

So I try a few new things. I try starting it in safe mode. It loads most of the drivers... and somewhere during that it locks up and never gets out of DOS. I try running a test on my RAM with an Ubuntu disc at this point to see if my RAM is shot (as suspected, it's flawless). I try Ubuntu through a live CD. It too locks up just like XP at the exact same point (the OS loading screen).

So I've come to the conclusion that my processor is toast. I must have overloaded it when I was listening to music and burning a disc

I don't know, can anyone offer their thoughts?

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Technology and Programming Very quick video card question.

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Mama Luigi

October 20, 2007, 05:50:01 pm

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Group: Premium Member
Joined: Jun 16, 2004
Posts: 1282

I'm currently cleaning my video card (7800 GT) because it's really dusty. Well anyway, I was taking the fan + heatsink enclosure off and I noticed the video RAM (those little black chips) had these white things on them. They rip apart really easily and they're sticky. I'm wondering what these are? Since a few of them are ripped apart due to my workings should I replace them? Can I put thermal compound on in their place?

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