waldwolf

For info, the following is Sony's response to what is now being calling "Goatgate":

The media event for the PS2 title God of War ll took place in Athens, Greece on 1st March. Approximately 20 journalists from European countries attended the event from a variety of gaming and lifestyle media - although none were from the UK.

The event was a theatrical dramatisation with a Greek mythological theme and, as part of the set dressing, a dead goat was provided by the production company from a qualified local butcher. Following the mainstream popularity of shows such as 'I'm a Celebrity, Get me out of here' a series of challenges were set for the journalists.

The 'warm entrails' referred to in the invitation and in the Mail on Sunday article was actually a meat soup, made to a traditional Greek recipe and served to attendees in china bowls direct from the caterers. There was never any question of journalists being able to touch the goat, or indeed eat the soup direct from the body of the goat, as one report has alleged. The goat was returned to the butcher at the end of the event.

The article in UK Official PlayStation Magazine (OPSM), from which the Mail on Sunday article was sourced, was written by a journalist who did not attend and done on the basis of the invitation for the event, which employed a degree of hyperbole in order to encourage attendance - the journalist chose to take it as fact!

The photograph was one of many supplied to the magazine to provide a balanced view of the event. Unfortunately, the article was sensationalised and focused on a picture that was unrepresentative of the wider event. When we saw the article for the first time on Thursday of last week we contacted the Publisher of OPSM who accepted that the article was not appropriate for their broad audience. On Friday, before we had received any contact from the media, they agreed to remove the centre page article before the magazine goes on general sale.

We recognise that the use of a dead goat was in poor taste and fell below the high standards of conduct we set ourselves. We are conducting an enquiry to establish the circumstances behind the event in order to ensure this does not happen again. We also apologise to anyone offended by the article in the OPSM (subscription copies were sent out ahead of street date

Dave Karraker

Sr. Director, Corporate Communications

Sony Computer Entertainment America

After reading this press release, its no wonder Sony's in trouble. Doesn't anyone use common sense today?

Obviously Sony learned little from the earlier "Rootkit" fiasco.

waldwolf

There is absolutely no excuse for this type conduct.

It is amazing to me how fast Sony has deteriorated since its founder Akio Morita passed away. Their quality control is now so bad, most major companies are switching to other suppliers, wherever possible.

Even gamers are switching. Since their introduction last year, Nintendo's Wii has outsold Sony's PS3 almost 2-to-1. (3.2 million vs. 1.7million).

I for one stopped buying Sony products 2 years ago, following a string of QC problems with poor product support.

"Once bitten...twice shy."

waldwolf

.........I guess I could take my laptop with me to try out the perspective monitor, but I'm not sure that they would let me install the drivers andconnect the brand new monitor for testing purposes. I would think that they would be quite reluctant to do so, just my opinion.

Pattaya David

Depending on your operating system, you may not need to install new drivers in order to run the 226BW. The following is a quote from Samsung Support:

You do not need to install Samsung drivers for your monitor in XP. The Plug and Play drivers provided in Windows XP work just as well. The only drawback is that you won't see the name of your monitor (for example, SyncMaster171v) in the Device Manager under Monitor. Instead, you will see something along the lines of Plug and Play Monitor.

If the store won't let you "test" your system on their display model, find another vendor who will.

waldwolf

deon - "Appcompat.txt" is a file containing information about an error which has occurred while using Internet Explorer (IE) and (if you consent) is transmitted to Microsoft for their inspection and future debugging use. "Appcompat.txt" is not the problem. It only contains information about the problem.

There could be many reasons for this error being generated. (I often encounter it on several of Sony's technical sites.) First, open IE and click on TOOLS>INTERNET OPTIONS. Under the "Security" tab, highlight each item pictured, and check they are set to "Default". Next click the "Advanced" tab and then click the "Restore Defaults" button. Close IE completely. Reopen IE and surf to the website your were having problems opening. If problem persists, run an antivirus/spyware scan of your whole system.

Now, if you do not feel confident enough to go further into the system, I would suggest you seek assistance from a friend whom you feel has more computer experience.

If you wish to proceed on your own, try the following:

(1) If you are running WindowsXP (or ME) try "Restoring" the system back to a date prior to your encountering said problem. (See Help file for details if your unfamiliar with this "Restore" procedure.)

(2) If "Restore" doesn't work, go into the control panel, click on "Add/Remove Programs". Locate Internet Explorer. Click remove. In next window which appears, select REPAIR and click OK. IE will check and repair (replace) any damaged files associated with IE.

Post back your findings/results.

waldwolf

webfact - A good quality UPS should provide sufficient protection. However. should you have a direct hit or nearby lightening strike, no UPS or surge protector can handle that extreme level of voltage and current. In such a situation, unplugging sensitive equipment/appliances is your best precaution.

This subject has been widely discussed in earlier threads, such as:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...urge+protectors

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...urge+protectors

or

using the "Search" function (upper right), just enter the word(s) "surge protection" or "UPS".

waldwolf

PattayaDavid - Setting a display to a resolution lower than the native resolution will cause [a] the monitor to use a reduced visible area of the screen or it will have to do what is technically called "Extrapolation".

Using "Extrapolation", the system attempts to blend multiple pixels together to produce an image similar to what you would see if the monitor were to display it at the given resolution, however, this may result in fuzzy images. In other words, normally blank areas of a screen are filled (or stretched) using blended data, resulting in reduced sharpness, colour distortion and/or other undesirable visual errors.

As Reimer correctly suggests, it would be wise to test both laptops on the monitor(s) you fancy, as certain monitors are better than others at running "outside" their native resolution. Digital vs. Analog output/input may also aid (or hinder) the "viewable" image, when running outside the native specifications.

If you plan to do gaming, viewing videos or the like, be sure to test the monitor(s) by running such programs. Static content when displayed may look good, but constantly changing data may result in unacceptable "smear".

waldwolf

briley - There is a company (Thai-US ownership) in BKK who specialize in broadband internet setups for companies, stores, schools, and condos.

JCMR Co. Ltd.

4th Floor Room 403

57-57/1 Wireless Road

Lumpini, Pathumwan Bangkok, 10330,

Tele: 66-2-254-6080

Fax: 66-2-650-7701

Website: www.thai-fi.com/

A quick phone call may help answer some of your questions.

waldwolf

(PS- I have no financial or business relation with this company, nor have I ever used their services.)

paulfr - You are not alone. Adobe Flash and Shockwave utilities are both known to have "installation" problems, especially in WindowsXP (SP2).

To properly repair a "bad installation", it is recommended you uninstall the effected program using the apporpriate Adobe uninstall utility, then do a fresh reinstall. Downloads available HERE

For info, a similar problem with "Flash" was discussed in this earlier thread: here

waldwolf

Members should be aware there is a "new" scam making the rounds, which could cause your computer to become seriously infected with malware.

The bad guys are now dropping cheap, low capacity, infected USB U3 Flash Drives in various public places, hoping the "finder" will think someone has accidently lost it. The finder then takes the drive home and plugs it into his computer. The "found" drive (being a U3 device) now automatically installs malware (most likely some type of rootkit or keylogger) in the unsuspecting owners computer.

UK authorities are reporting an increasing number of these scams. (Undoubtly copycat schemes are sure to follow.)

Should you find such a drive in your local car park or on the sidewalk, DO NOT plug the drive into your computer.

waldwolf

While there may be several mechanical reasons for the problem you describe, the most likely cause is due to laser beam "Tilt" distortion, caused by the warped disk(s).

Some "better quality" DVD players are able to compensate for minor disk warping by mechanically pivoting the disk spindle shaft. Newer designs often incorporate electronic circuits to "bend" the laser beam to correct for minor disk warp.

As you suspected, this warped problem is usually encountered where "lower-quality" disks are used.

Like unbalanced tires (tyres) on your automobile, warped disks put a strain on your players mechanical parts causing vibration and abnormal wear. Constant use of warped disks may result in early failure of the drive.

waldwolf

martyn - Utilizing SSL encryption, your safest (but not 100% perfect) setup would be in your home with a hard-wired ISP connection, running through a two-way firewall.

If your on any type network, especially wireless, your much more vunerable, as it is technically possible for someone to "issue" a fake SSL certificate, thus allowing them to intercept your unencrypted data during login. (When was the last time you double-clicked that little SSL "padlock", and verified the site you were connected to, was actually the true site issuer?)

I would strongly recommend you DO NOT use public WiFi connections (ie: internet cafe's, etc.) for important tranactions, except in an emergency.

Talk to your bank's security department and ask them for suggestion on maintaining security. They may be able to offer additional login security features and/or a seperate "internet account" into which you can transfer funds (while at home), for access while traveling.

good luck

waldwolf

The "patches" cdnvic refers to above, have now been released by Microsoft.

Windows Affected Software:

- Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

- Windows XP Service Pack 2

- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003

- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1

- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

- Windows Server 2003 for Itanium-based Systems

- Windows Server 2003 with SP1 for Itanium-based Systems

- Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems

- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition

- Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2

- Windows Vista

- Windows Vista x64 Edition

Details/Downloads HERE:

This new 0-Day Trojan malware can be executed by visiting an infected website or viewing infected email (even if your email reader is set to "Text Only"). You can also become infected by forwarding infected emails, without actually having viewed same.

NOTE: The problem appears to effect USER32.DLL. If this is the case, ALL BROWSERS MAy BE VUNERABLE (Including IE, Firefox, Opera, etc.)

Users of above OS's should download/install their particular patch, ASAP.

Again, our thanks go out to cdnvic for the heads-up.

waldwolf

Upcountry -

As your email account at username@gmail.com works with POP3, suggest you try following:

1. Double check that your [email protected] setup details are exactly the same as your working username@gmail.com account, except of course (where applicable), the Thaivisa account username/address will read [email protected]. (Write down on paper, both account settings, for later comparison.)

2. Turn OFF email checking in your AVG antivirus.

3. Using your POP3 email client (Eudora?), attempt to retreve the email I just sent you.

4. If POP3 not successful, manually check your Thaivisa gmail account to see if my email was received.

5. Reactivate your email antivirus checking in AVG.

6. Post back results/findings.

waldwolf

Several additional things one should consider, when compairing Plasma vs. LCD are:

Lifespan (the number of viewing hours a television provides before dimming to half brightness) for Plasma is considerably less than for LCD, especially in lower priced Plasma units.

Plasma's also suffers "Burn-In" problems, wherein, if an image (news crawl, stock ticker-tape, still image, etc.) is displayed for an extended period, a ghost of that image is burned into the display. Watching standard size (4x3) TV on a widescreen (16x9) set or using the TV as a computer display, may also cause burn-in problems. LCD's do not suffer these burn-in problems.

While Plasma systems are currently less expensive than similar LCD units, production of large LCD's will double next year, when the new joint Sony-Samsung factory in Korea comes online. Prices for large LCD systems should drop dramatically.

waldwolf

upcountry -

......I tried again to get mail, but this time I got: POP server (<name>@pop.gmail.com) command error: ERR AVG POP3 Proxy Server: Cannot connect to the mail server!........

....I tried sending a polite email to my username at gmail.com, and it didn't arrive in my mailbox, so it does appear that someone can have a gmail account with the same name as a thaivisa username.UC

Questions:

1. Did you enable POP3 in your [email protected] account? (If not, check HERE for details)

2. Are you using AVG Antivirus to scan your email?

waldwolf

Upcountry -

Exact settings for POP3 may vary depending on your OS (Windows, Mac, Linux), your email client (ie: Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, etc.) and specific version(s) of said client.

Check this "Gmail Help Center POP Access" link for specific setup details: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?topic=1555

For example, if your using Outlook Express 6 as your email client, then check that settings (indicated by red arrows) are as shown below:

waldwolf

Suggest you also take a look at Adobe Premiere Elements which is the stripped down version of Adobe Premiere which phazey suggested.

It is very good and much easier to use than Premiere.

waldwolf

buzzer -

For Gmail POP3 to work, you first need to manually log into your Gmail account at https://mail.google.com/a/thaivisa.com, then:

1) Click on Settings (upper right corner)

2) In new window click on Fordwarding and Pop (top center)

3) In new window, click one of the Enable POP...... bullets, then "Save Changes" button.

To correct your buzzer<buzzer user name problem:

1) Again. click on Settings (upper right corner)

2) Then click Accounts

3) Click the edit info next to your buzzer<[email protected] name

4)In new popup window, enter correct name in window provided, check bullet next to new name, click "Save Changes" button, then log out of Gmail.

If your using Outlook 2000, 2003, 2007, Outlook Express 6, or Thunderbird 1.5.x.x and still have problems, you can download the Google "Gmail POP Troubleshooter" utility, here.

waldwolf

The test report, on which this BBC article is based, makes for some very interesting reading.

For example:

- The top 5 rated utilities in this study are all multi-engine products (such as GData's "AVK" (highest rated) which utilizes both the Kapersky and BitDefender engines.)

- Our little friend AVG did quite well, scoring an impressive 96.37% (vs. 96.83% for Symantec, 96.71% for NOD32 and only 91.63% for McAfee)

The latest test results (February 2007) are available HERE (pdf format)

waldwolf

Did you purchase said hardware in Thailand? If yes, suggest, if possible, you ask original seller.

Belkins Asian offices are:

Singapore: Belkin Pte Limited. 7 Temasek Boulevard, #07-03 Suntec Tower One, Singapore 038987, Technical Support: Tele: +65 6485 7620, Fax: +65 6485 7649. Email: [email protected]

Japan: Tele: 0120 532372 (Toll Free), Website: www.belkin.com/jp

Malaysia: Tele: 1 800 812 076 (Toll Free)

Taiwan: Tele: 00801 85 5962, Website: www.belkin.com/tw

There is a company (Thai-US ownership) in BKK who specialize in broadband internet setups for companies, stores, schools, condos, etc., and use Belkin products in various installations. Possibly they could assist you. They are:

JCMR Co. Ltd., 4th Floor Room 403, 57-57/1 Wireless Road, Lumpini, Pathumwan Bangkok, 10330, Tele: 66-2-254-6080, Fax: 66-2-650-7701, Website: www.thai-fi.com/

Belkin have an excellent reputation for quality products and customer support.

waldwolf

Google recently published a study on hard drive reliability, with some of the following conclusions:

- 90 percent of all new information is now stored on magnetic media

- High drive temperatures and high utilization don't necessarily translate to higher failure rates

- Highest failure rates occur in drives that are three years old.

The Google study is available HERE (pdf format)

The Google report will also be the subject of Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte's "Security Now" podcast, to be posted next Thursday (01-MAR-07) on Steve's website at: http://www.grc.com/SecurityNow.htm

waldwolf

Whether or not you plan to use the new Windows Vista, you may find the "behind the scenes" information and comments posted on this official Microsoft blog, interesting and helpful.

The Windows Vista Team Blog: HERE

waldwolf

....When the machine IS SHUT DOWN and off for the night, it RANDOMLY starts emitting a high pitched continuous noise....and, I believe regardless of whether the machine is plugged in or not.

OK, I assume your "bro" isn't overclocking the CPU, so you will now need to open the computer case, and check the following:

1. Ask your "bro" if he or anyone else has installed any new hardware, such as a second HDD, CD/DVD player or burner, a new video card, etc. If so, trace the power lead on ALL units back to the power supply and make sure there is only one (1) item plugged into any one power supply lead.

2. After removing the computer's cover, turn unit on and check if noise returns. If it doesn't, you may have a "overheat" problem affecting various chipsets/motherboard/powersupply components. Check that ALL cooling fans are working.

3. Listen for the noise and attempt to determine where it is coming from, such as from the power supply or motherboard. Some motherboards and modems have very small piezo speakers mounted on their pc boards. Look for these and try to determine if sound is coming from one of them. (Various electrical transformers can also cause noises/vibrations, when their laminations become loose.)

4. If problem continues, turn-off computer and try removing (one at a time) the various cards, such as video card, modem, etc. plugged into expansion slots, then turn unit on again and check for noise.

5. Post back your findings/observations.

I would agree with cdnvic that it may be a power supply problem. If it is, the good news is, power supply's are relatively inexpensive.

waldwolf

Unfortunately, magnetic tape is not the ideal media for long term data storage.

Magnetic tape degrades by known chemical processes. When the kinetics of these processes is fully understood, the degradation mechanisms can be modeled and the life expectancy (LE) of tapes can be estimated. The binder systems used in today's tapes are generally based on polyester polyurethanes. These polymers degrade by a process known as hydrolysis - where the polyester linkage is broken by a reaction with water. One of the by-products of this degradation is organic acids. These organic acids accelerate the rate of hydrolytic decomposition. Furthermore, the acids can attack and degrade the magnetic particles.

Note in the above chart*, humidity is more important in determining the lifetime of tape, than the storage temperature. For example, at 20° C (68° F) and 50% relative humidity (RH), an estimated LE value of ~30 years is indicated. If the storage temperature is raised to 25° C (76° F) at 50% RH, the LE is reduced to ~10 years. However, if the humidity is raised to 80% at 20° C (68° F), the LE is reduced to ~5 years.

Of course, when the earth's magnetic field does its next "flip", most magnetic storage material will be erased anyways. Recently, NASA scientists studying the earths magnetic shield report a growing "weakness" which may indicate another "north-south flip" of the poles is beginning.

Is this one of those new "Non volatile" memorys ?

I read somewhere, unlike flash (which is volatile), the Non volatile

memory products will have an almost unlimited lifetime...

The SanDisk SSD shown earlier uses non-volatile memory, however, sone brands do use volatle memory.

waldwolf

* Source: National Media Labs

One solution might be the new SSD (Solid State Drive) from SanDisk.

Brief description:

The drive, which is based on the SSDs of Msystems', a company which was recently acquired by Sandisk, is scheduled to become available in 2007 for enterprise users and will offer about half the capacity of today's entry level notebooks with traditional hard drives (60 GB). However, it is performance and power savings that sets the SSD apart from an ordinary hard drive.

The file access rate of the Sandisk SSD is rated at 0.12 milliseconds, compared to 19 milliseconds of a hard drive. At least the random read rate is about 100 times faster than what a hard drive delivers and, collectively, the features provide enough performance to boot Windows Vista Enterprise in about 35 seconds, Sandisk said.

Price: $600 (US)

waldwolf