The Spam Thread!

[huckleberrypie]

I tried the new update on my laptop as well, and didn't notice any issues either. Besides the use of alpha blur effects harkening that of Aero, I did notice some subtle changes in the icons being they're a tad less flatter than in previous builds.

[cpd2009]

I tried the new update on my laptop as well, and didn't notice any issues either. Besides the use of alpha blur effects harkening that of Aero, I did notice some subtle changes in the icons being they're a tad less flatter than in previous builds.

I noticed that too, and it's a welcome change. The refreshed icons now have a bit more depth to them, and again, appear similar to macOS icons.

Speaking of icons, Nvidia's control panel continues to use Windows XP icons for it's UI. That kind of boggles me. If you can compare the Nvidia control panel to Catalyst Control Center, it's clear the latter wins with it's more modern looking UI. The Nvidia panel is starting to look very dated. They should re-design it to look more like their GeForce Experience app.

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In other news, while I am enjoying Opera browser, I am going to switch to the Microsoft Edge dev preview. I have installed it but haven't really tried it out much. It does look somewhat like the old Edge, but obviously with a Chromium base. Let's hope it works better than old Edge.

[huckleberrypie]

I tried the new update on my laptop as well, and didn't notice any issues either. Besides the use of alpha blur effects harkening that of Aero, I did notice some subtle changes in the icons being they're a tad less flatter than in previous builds.

I noticed that too, and it's a welcome change. The refreshed icons now have a bit more depth to them, and again, appear similar to macOS icons.

Speaking of icons, Nvidia's control panel continues to use Windows XP icons for it's UI. That kind of boggles me. If you can compare the Nvidia control panel to Catalyst Control Center, it's clear the latter wins with it's more modern looking UI. The Nvidia panel is starting to look very dated. They should re-design it to look more like their GeForce Experience app.

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In other news, while I am enjoying Opera browser, I am going to switch to the Microsoft Edge dev preview. I have installed it but haven't really tried it out much. It does look somewhat like the old Edge, but obviously with a Chromium base. Let's hope it works better than old Edge.

Not that there aren't any relics of yore in shell32.dll though:

But I guess there's so many of them that combing through and redrawing all of them in the new art style is not worth the added expense and resources.

I might as well try the Chromium-based Edge as well, and from what I heard there's an IE Mode built into it as well, with ActiveX support presumably due to organisations requiring it for legacy web apps and such.

[cpd2009]

I got around to installing Pearl's game collection last night. It's amazing just how many casual game CD-ROMs I have accumulated over the years. Most are the puzzle/match-3 games with a few breakout clones, space shooters, and platformers for good measure. While installing some of them, I noticed that the devs hardcoded the post-install web page display to launch in Internet Explorer, regardless of default browser choice.

I'm also considering making ISO backups of all my game discs and storing them on some kind of external storage large enough for them all. The discs themselves won't last forever, either decaying from age or getting damaged or lost. I have old home recorded CD-R discs that started rotting after only 10 years or so. Then again they were in a damp musty basement...

Given that these are discount casual games from Walmart, they do not have any form of DRM AFAIK. Only my newest discs purchased during the past two or so years require online activation of some kind. That kinda sucks because once those servers go down, the games probably won't install without activation.

[huckleberrypie]

I got around to installing Pearl's game collection last night. It's amazing just how many casual game CD-ROMs I have accumulated over the years. Most are the puzzle/match-3 games with a few breakout clones, space shooters, and platformers for good measure. While installing some of them, I noticed that the devs hardcoded the post-install web page display to launch in Internet Explorer, regardless of default browser choice.

I'm also considering making ISO backups of all my game discs and storing them on some kind of external storage large enough for them all. The discs themselves won't last forever, either decaying from age or getting damaged or lost. I have old home recorded CD-R discs that started rotting after only 10 years or so. Then again they were in a damp musty basement...

Given that these are discount casual games from Walmart, they do not have any form of DRM AFAIK. Only my newest discs purchased during the past two or so years require online activation of some kind. That kinda sucks because once those servers go down, the games probably won't install without activation.

The activation issue reminds me of Kit: A Treehouse of My Own which came with SecuROM iirc. The game is no longer in active circulation, and I dunno if used or unused copies of the game in secondary markets can still be activated in some way without resorting to cracks.

[cpd2009]

Taking a air dusting can and blowing off the dust here.

Tablet review incoming.... eventually. I have acquired an Azpen G1058B 10.1'' Android Tablet PC. The Shopko bankruptcy sale is nearly over, and I was able to get the tablet for 60% off the MSRP. The G1058B is a bit atypical Android tablet. Coming with Android 6.0, the tablet is 4G/LTE enabled. It even came with a pre-installed FreedomPop SIM card for data-only service. It also has an FM radio, a feature that is very uncommon for an Android tablet AFAIK. FM radio is normally reserved for Android Phones, and not even all Android phones have that. It also came with a faux leather sleeve/stand, a USB OTG cable (male mirco-USB to female USB-A) and a rechargeable Bluetooth keyboard.

My primary purpose for the tablet is for running Android games and Webkinz. Sure I could run them on my LG Rebel 3, but I prefer to have games on a much larger screen. The tablet won't replace Greta though since it's less powerful than her.

[huckleberrypie]

Would love to see that tablet mate. Apparently it ran on a MediaTek SOC, but that's what Google results tell me.

[cpd2009]

I may get to it tomorrow. I realize I still have to show the insides of that micro-BTX system as well. I will create separate threads in the Computers sub-forum for both of those.

Tonight, I'm copying over all my old YTP videos from DVD-R disc to one of my hard disks. There is this new thing going around called YTP+ that involves downloading a custom application and FFMPEG/ImageMagick and the aforementioned program automatically creates a YTP from the MP4 source files you feed it. It's trending a bit on YouTube with some big names like Vinesauce posting videos made with this thing. Seeing as how all my old YTPs pale in comparison to my newest ones (they were made with Windows Movie Maker), I'd like to see what this little program does with these.

[huckleberrypie]

Automated YTPs? Now that's something. Though I can see how some may view it with disdain not unlike those who call out demoscene groups who use automated or semi-automated tools to program their demos and label them as lamers in contrast to the purist, bare-metal approach typical of the scene.

[cpd2009]

I'd imagine that YTP+ is going to be a fad that will eventually fade away because of what you are predicting. Sure, automated YTP is fun now, but eventually, people will get tired of this and will probably see it as works of amateurs. Though through my testing, it's producing some rather good results. No real crashes or bugs yet, but the program is in early beta and the site states you should expect bugs and other things. As YTP+ is open source, I plan on editing the built in source clips it uses for randomness (basically short meme videos and common YTP transition stuff).