Herbivore

I think I'm fairly well protected, although I could be wrong. Here's what I have... let me know if you think I would still need that anonymizer. Windows XP firewall (yeah, I know, but it's still something) ZoneAlarm firewall (with virus and spyware protection) Peerguardian 2 (always running) ...and I'm behind a router (which provides some sort of protection, right?) then I have several anti-spyware programs... SpywareBlaster, Microsoft Anti-Spyware, Spybot... I mean, I play things safe with my Internet activity anyway, so I doubt there's anything incriminating out there from me, but I like the idea of being fully protected just in case.

AGP and PCI-Express are two different types of connections for graphics cards on the motherboard. PCI-Express is a newer technology, so the newest graphics cards use it. AGP is older, but not by much... it's still enough for most people. That's the best photo I could find in 1.5 minutes of searching (ha) to show the difference between how they look. Look at your motherboard and see what you have. AGP will be indented closer towards the center... that's probably the easiest way of telling.

Hey Mainter, I have that same Cooler Master case (the one on the right). * Casek, would you recommend that Kerio firewall over ZoneAlarm? And is it free, or just a trial?

I have a question for you guys. I tried installing the game F.E.A.R on my friend's computer (it's a legitimate copy) but it kept coming up with an "access denied" error. After trying to search for a solution, I found out that it was trying to put something in the folder "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents" but the folder, and its parent folders were set to Read Only. I un-checked the Read Only option and applied the changes, only to have it reset the value to true immediately after closing the dialog. He was logged in as Administrator, so it can't be a rights issue... and I can't think of what would be causing these folders to remain Read Only even after the Administrator tells them not to be. Any ideas?

It's not humanly possible to fully enforce that new law. Stupid shit, regardless.

What's an ACID test? Also, I'm a little surprised by those web browser test results. For me, IE loads a LOT quicker than Firefox. And if you have ActiveX turned off completely, IE is pretty safe, no?

But that's the address for Comcast, right?

I actually just bought a new monitor last night myself. I went to CompUSA with the intention of buying (or at least checking out) this ViewSonic. However, when I looked at it in person, the text looked pretty shitty, and fucked with my eyes... so I ended up getting this Sony. I had heard a lot of good things about Sony monitors, and despite the review, it's actually really good (in my opinion, at least). In reference to your comments, though, I had to turn the "backlight" setting for my monitor all the way down to 0, and the "brightness" down to like 30 (out of 100), and it's still pretty bright. Regarding the blurry text, there may be a way for you to fix that. My monitor came with some software to help me calibrate the settings to make everything look "good". However, if I followed the instructions it made text look really really shitty. There's an option on my monitor for sharpness that drastically affects the way text looks. Set at the right level, text looks amazingly crisp, so see if your monitor has an option like that. I wish I had known about that when I was in the store looking at the ViewSonic with the "shitty text", because I would've fiddled around more with the controls for it. Anyway, I'm fairly satisfied with my purchase. I did, however, get the shaft with the rebates. There were two rebates available, one for $70, and one for $30.... but they both require I send the original barcode from the box. Kind of fucked up, but whatever.

See, I don't know... this monitor advertises a 3ms gray-to-gray response time, and a 5ms black-to-white response time. But then some of the reviews claim that it's not all that fast. Plus, I'm really nervous about getting a monitor with some dead pixels, as most companies won't send a replacement unless it has over 7 or 8. I'm done with CRT, though, I definitely want LCD. We'll see, I'm going to check out what they have at CompUSA today after work.

Alright, I'm in the market for a new monitor, because the CRT I have now probably isn't going to last much longer. I want to get an LCD, but from what I read, they're not the best for gaming. Regardless, I still want one, so does anyone know of a specific model that's good for gaming? I know all about the specs, and what to look for, but specs can be misleading (the different ways companies measure pixel pitch, black-to-white refresh rate vs. gray-to-gray, etc.) and the reviews posted on sites like newegg.com are often contradicting. One guy will claim the monitor is awesome while another says it ghosts a lot and sucks in general. Also, I'd rather not buy the monitor online, because a lot of vendors have annoying dead pixel policies and won't always replace the monitor if a few pixels are dead. Basically, I'm looking for some info from people who own LCDs and play games a lot. Let me know what's good. * And I'd prefer something that's sold in stores so I can actually go and look at it first to see if I like the quality.

My dog is bipolar with intense mood swings... or at least that's my diagnosis.

wow... you REALLY don't catch on quick, huh?

Heh... probably not. I haven't upgraded my drivers in at least 6 months. I should probably do that.

It must be... I have a 3.0 GHz, 1GB RAM and ATI Radeon 9800, and my computer struggles with some of the newer games. I've tried to create a 'gaming' profile, eliminating unnecessary processes, but it doesn't help too much.

It's almost definitely the type of CD you're using that's causing the problem. I was having a similar problem, where my burned CDs would only play up to track 15 or 16 and wouldn't read the rest. I tried a different brand of CDR, and it works fine now. Also, Casek, I'm surprised your computer has no problems playing COD2 given your specs.

here we go............

I actually have a D-Link. I tried searching for a way to retrieve the password a while back, but couldn't find anything. Oh well... it's not really that important. Thanks for the help, though.

I forgot the password to my router, and I'm kind of hesitant with the idea of hard resetting it. 1. Is there any other way to retrieve the router password? (probably not, but I figure it'd be worth a shot to ask) 2. Is there anything negative that might happen as a result of hard resetting it? It's not really that big of a deal, but I wanted to do some port forwarding to test out this program I'm making.

socks build bear faN ("Bf") !

http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/2279 Commercial Answer The truth is that the two competing technologies use different formats. No single company "owns" DVD and both technologies have their "champions". DVD-R/RW was developed by Pioneer. Based on CD-RW technology, it uses a similar pitch of the helix, mark length of the 'burn' for data, and rotation control. DVD-R/RW is supported by the DVD Forum, an industry-wide group of hardware and software developers, and computer peripheral manufacturers. The DVD-R format has been standardized in ECMA-279 by the Forum, but this is a private standard, not an 'industry' ISO standard like the CD-R/RW Red Book or Orange Book standard. DVD+R/RW is also based on CD-RW technology. DVD+R/RW is supported by Sony, Philips, HP, Dell, Ricoh, Yamaha, and others, and has recently been endorsed by Microsoft. DVD+R/RW is not supported by the DVD Forum, but the Forum has no power to set industry standards, so it becomes a market-driven issue. Technical Answer DVD+R is a dvd disc that allows multiple layers for one disc where as dvd-r only allows one layer. They will not compete to become the de Facto standard, because they are both here to stay. Multi layer DVD+R can allow extra capacity per disc than DVD-R hence its high cost!

is the fan on the graphics card working? i'd say an easy fix would be to just leave the case off and have a fan blowing on your computer whenever you play games.

^^ ahahahahahahahahahahaha

make sure the processor you get has the same socket type as the motherboard. also, if your motherboard is kind of old, it might only support up to a certain speed of processor. you'll also want to have a decent amount of memory if you're going to be running demanding programs like photoshop.

i've been eyeing this monitor for a while now: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16824168005 it's pretty cheap for a 19" and the specs are great for the most part... especially the response time. the only thing holding me back is the fact that they only replace monitors with 8 or more dead pixels... and that's not really a risk i want to take.

if you have a website restricting program on your computer, then pictures from restricted websites will show up as dots... at least that's what happens for me at work.