283 replies to this topic

[Dave]

Ask a Tech Geek
You ask a question, pretend or serious. Any techie may answer. Multiple answers from multiple geeks encouraged. Conflicting answers eagerly anticipated.

Dear techie,

I've noticed differences in viewing a website in firefox on a mac and in firefox on a pc. That's confusing to me. I thought a browser is a browser. Firefox is Firefox. What gives?

Secondly, would all you tech people here be amenable to participating in a "Dear Tech Geek" thread?

Edited by Dave, 29 December 2006 - 12:34 AM.

[jeckles]

First, Firefox (or any browser for that matter) simply interprets code. A lot of times the code doesn't specify exactly what it wants (a font for example.) In these kinds of cases the browser will defer to standard system defaults. Also there will be some differences in how Firefox is written for Mac, Windows and Linux.

I wouldn't touch a Mac with your keyboard, but I did use Linux about a quarter of the time, Most of the differences I see are in the way fonts are rendered and how margins are calculated.

Second, yes I would answer questions. (Although, I think the other tech people that play here disagree with what I think most of the time, so you're risking wildly conflicting answers.)

[Meathe]

jeckles, on Dec 27 2006, 08:31 PM, said:

First, Firefox (or any browser for that matter) simply interprets code. A lot of times the code doesn't specify exactly what it wants (a font for example.) In these kinds of cases the browser will defer to standard system defaults. Also there will be some differences in how Firefox is written for Mac, Windows and Linux.

This is utterly correct. The code differences in Firefox between Linux/Windows/Mac is fairly low, it's quite a portable (ie. platform agnostic) browser - though it is possible that it contributes to the effect. As Jeckles said, the default fonts are always a kicker in these cases.

I'm also up for trying to answer questions.

[Cobra Commander]

Ask a Tech Geek
You ask a question, pretend or serious. Any techie may answer. Multiple answers from multiple geeks encouraged. Conflicting answers eagerly anticipated.

1. I run an illegal worldwide subversive organization. We're in the process of upgrading our basic technology infrastructure, so I'm wondering what computer platform would best serve the needs of a company whose core strengths include arms dealing, election rigging and covert operations?

[riss]

Oh my do I have a stupid question that I would like the answer to.

MSN messenger kicks me off intermittently. It is REALLY annoying. Yahoo messenger and AIM do not do this, just MSN. Aside from killing the three friends I have that refuse to get off MSN, is there a way to fix this? I have re-installed it twice and still have the same problem. It's a new problem by the way, it just all of a sudden started happening a couple of weeks ago.

[Meathe]

Cobra Commander, on Dec 28 2006, 10:49 AM, said:

Ask a Tech Geek
You ask a question, pretend or serious. Any techie may answer. Multiple answers from multiple geeks encouraged. Conflicting answers eagerly anticipated.

1. I run an illegal worldwide subversive organization. We're in the process of upgrading our basic technology infrastructure, so I'm wondering what computer platform would best serve the needs of a company whose core strengths include arms dealing, election rigging and covert operations?

Very obviously, you require a supercomputer. No one will take you seriously as a supervillian if you're sitting about in your cave, using a Compaq or Dell.

You need a supercomputer that exudes that certain evil "je ne sais qua", the sort of computer that the Emperor would want to own.

I recomend the IBM BlueGene/L.

Not only does it have the pure power that you need (enough is never enough), but it is encased in imposing black.

http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archiv...ercomputer.html

Compare the BlueGene/L to the Japanese Whole Earth Simulator below it.  Which screams evil empire and which whimpers '1985 PC beige'?

Keep in mind that, to be considered a truly evil computer system you will also need to purchase a great many panels with many buttons and lights that flash in pseudo random sequences.  Also a large reel-to-reel tape machine that spins all day is always good.

Edited by Meathe, 28 December 2006 - 10:11 PM.

[Adam]

Meathe, on Dec 26 2006, 08:02 PM, said:

Keep in mind that, to be considered a truly evil computer system you will also need to purchase a great many panels with many buttons and lights that flash in pseudo random sequences.  Also a large reel-to-reel tape machine that spins all day is always good.

Shouldn't there be a large video screen with a map of the world on it also? Perhaps some red dots indicating where various shenanigans are being carried out? I think this screen is supposed to have webcam capabilities of some sort also. You know, so if someone calls in they are instantly displayed on the screen...whether they like it or not.

[monogodo]

Cobra Commander, on Dec 28 2006, 09:49 AM, said:

1. I run an illegal worldwide subversive organization. We're in the process of upgrading our basic technology infrastructure, so I'm wondering what computer platform would best serve the needs of a company whose core strengths include arms dealing, election rigging and covert operations?

I would recommend the Osborne 1.

It's got everything you need to run the world: it's a complete solution, with dual floppy drives and unmatched portability. I think my mother still has one in her closet if you're interested.

[jeckles]

Cobra Commander, on Dec 28 2006, 10:49 AM, said:

Ask a Tech Geek
You ask a question, pretend or serious. Any techie may answer. Multiple answers from multiple geeks encouraged. Conflicting answers eagerly anticipated.

1. I run an illegal worldwide subversive organization. We're in the process of upgrading our basic technology infrastructure, so I'm wondering what computer platform would best serve the needs of a company whose core strengths include arms dealing, election rigging and covert operations?

I told you so.

I have to completely disagree with Meathe. An IBM? How corporate.

Of course, he is right about the supercomputer. But if I were going to run an underground criminal organization (not that I would know anything about that) I would build my supercomputer from a bunch of old computers tying them together to create a distributed processing super computer. I'd use Linux since it is widely available and my henchmen could find the answers to anything they needed on the Internet.

[jeckles]

riss, on Dec 28 2006, 03:47 PM, said:

Oh my do I have a stupid question that I would like the answer to.

MSN messenger kicks me off intermittently. It is REALLY annoying. Yahoo messenger and AIM do not do this, just MSN. Aside from killing the three friends I have that refuse to get off MSN, is there a way to fix this? I have re-installed it twice and still have the same problem. It's a new problem by the way, it just all of a sudden started happening a couple of weeks ago.

We use MSN as our IM of choice at work. I've noticed the random drops too. It may have to do with the MSN servers. It's also possible that a firewall can cause these kinds of things, depending what kind of monitoring and caching is being done.

[Chad]

I merged this with the browser/OS thread. McA I know you started both these threads and I would normally never mess with your posts/threads on fear of death, but I thought this time it would be ok since the 2 seemed to inspire each other. If not then I accept my death with grace and courage and ...*runs away*

[Cobra Commander]

Foiled again! This thread was rightfully mine!

[Meathe]

riss, on Dec 28 2006, 03:47 PM, said:

Oh my do I have a stupid question that I would like the answer to.

MSN messenger kicks me off intermittently. It is REALLY annoying. Yahoo messenger and AIM do not do this, just MSN. Aside from killing the three friends I have that refuse to get off MSN, is there a way to fix this? I have re-installed it twice and still have the same problem. It's a new problem by the way, it just all of a sudden started happening a couple of weeks ago.

A long while back, AIM used to disconnect the MSN client. I doubt they've started it again, but its always possible.

MSN messenger also runs off IE preferences - did you upgrade to IE 7 recently? I've noticed that disables SSL2 by default, which Messenger seems to like. (In IE, Tools, Options. The Advanced tab, near the bottom in the 'Security' section, make sure SSL2 is checked).

Past that, did anything else change in the last few weeks? New wireless access point or firewall, anything like that?

[Dave]

Riss' question brings up another query: which IM thing do techies prefer? If you say AIM, I will never listen to another thing you post ever. Not here. Not on your blog. Anywhere. Oh, wait, AIM let's you get a member name without AOL now, right? Maybe I'll shut up.

p.s., no, chad, you're right.

[Meathe]

Dave, on Dec 28 2006, 08:06 PM, said:

Riss' question brings up another query: which IM thing do techies prefer? If you say AIM, I will never listen to another thing you post ever. Not here. Not on your blog. Anywhere. Oh, wait, AIM let's you get a member name without AOL now, right? Maybe I'll shut up.

p.s., no, chad, you're right.

I tend to use several, because people I know use different things.

ICQ, MSN and Yahoo mostly.

The client I use depends a bit, but the multi-messenger clients like "Miranda IM" and "Trillian" (or Gaim on linux) are very handy - and much better than running several different programs.

[jeckles]

Ditto. I use Trillian on Windows and Kopete on Linux. I have accounts on AIM, Y!, ICQ and MSN. I tend to prefer Y! for my personal contacts and MSN for work.

Of course right now if I have to IM at work I like to use MSN and encrypt it with Simp-Lite. (This makes sure that my conversation aren't logged with the rest of those at work.)

[WebKittyn]

I used to prefer Yahoo until it started doing weird crap and someone got in and sent all my contacts a bogus link. I've turned it on once or twice since then but it scares me. I have the new ICQ number, most of the MUDders use ICQ. I have AIM to talk to my mother because it's all she has and I've stayed off of MSN for the most part.

[Chad]

Gaim lets you run every IM service you can imagine all at once. And kicks soo much as. A "techie" who is familar with "techie" stuff could explain Gaim better than I. but I run YIM, AIM, and MSn all at once all the time.

[Adam]

jeckles, on Dec 27 2006, 12:42 AM, said:

Ditto. I use Trillian on Windows and Kopete on Linux. I have accounts on AIM, Y!, ICQ and MSN. I tend to prefer Y! for my personal contacts and MSN for work.

Of course right now if I have to IM at work I like to use MSN and encrypt it with Simp-Lite. (This makes sure that my conversation aren't logged with the rest of those at work.)

To feed off that answer, I know there is/was a site called anonymizer.com that you could go to and basically conceal all of your internet travels from that point on. Every job i've ever worked at blocked that site. Is there something similar out there I can use? My fear is that one day, they will firewall MaximumAwesome. On those days when my job reminds me of what a horrible loser I am, I tend to go back and read my spellbinding contributions to this top notch website and all is well in my craw again (for awhile). So my question is, how can I hide my internet tracks at work? Keep in mind, I'm in South Dakota. What may seem elementary to you is probably rocket science to people who hope to be you in these parts. Word.

[riss]

I just tried Gaim. It worked fine until I logged onto MSN through it and then it crashed.