[Drews World Update]

Yah Pete, it seems the domain is now gone and the site is probably lost now...too bad.

But with the founder now departed (RIP buddy), I didn't think it was going to last much longer.

He'll always be remembered by the friends he had here tho, and we'll keep his memory alive thru us.

[Steve Irwin Dies At 44]

It is sad, anyone who fights for animal rights is a hero in my books.

This may seem odd but I had a feeling about 2 weeks ago that Steve was going to be killed soon, and todays news just made the hair on my neck stand straight up when I heard it...just freaky weird.

Why in the world did that thought just hit me like a brick the other week...it was a very strong feeling too.

While at times I thought he was just too agressive with his tactics, one cannot fault his enthusiasm or love for the animals he spent his life protecting.

My prayers go out to his wife Terry and their 2 children.

[How To Pick A Psu]

I don't think I can be any clearer here, it seems you just don't get it.

As I stated to you before, you're not telling folks who know "something about computers" anything new here, we can do our own research and make our own choices thank you.

A Besttechie tutorial is designed to help people who may not understand what it is they need to look for, or ask a salesman about in a new Power Supply, understand how a PSU works, what it does, what one needs to have to be considered good, and how to calculate what size they mey need. Explanations of the different types for different CPU's would be required so folks know whether to ask for a 20 or 24 pin, different cabling options available...etc.

As I see it (and many others you don't see talking so far), your post does none of that so far.

You stated you were writing a "Tutorial", but even as a "Buyers Guide" it lacks some things. If you're going to have a comprehensive list as you do, make sure it's complete. I have a StarTech 450W Pro which I consider an excellent PSU in mid-range, and it was all I had to choose from without buying online.

EXAMPLE - If I had known nothing about PSU's and was going strictly by your guide, I would not know if I should buy this StarTech one as it isn't listed in your guide.....now what do I do...you state that with a "Crappy" PSU I can kiss my GPU, CPU, and probably my HDD, RAM and everything goodbye...YIKES!!! How do I know what to do now....I STILL know nothing about PSU's except I have written down your list before I went to the store. I hardly understood half of what you were talking about in that article...I'm not good with all that abbreviation stuff.. Am I now going to fry my computer?

Not true and you know it, but you make it seem like that's in the imminent future for anyone not buying from list #1 or #2.

You are targeting the wrong audience with this post so as things are now this is exactly where this stays, and I really can't see how to make that any clearer for you.

[How To Pick A Psu]

Well, as I said in PM's, this isn't what we would consider as an "Tutorial", so don't expect to see this in the KB anytime soon.

I have a couple of issues with this, and in no order here they are...

First, this is more of an advertisement than a tutorial. You've simply listed brands by what, in your opinion, is Great, Good, or Crappy ( a term that I would not use in a tutorial).

Your title of "How to pick a PSU" should be more like..."PSU Recommendations", as you don't really tell people "HOW" to pick they're own PSU, but more tell them what PSU's to pick.

So, now you know what to look for, for the most part. But, you still don’t know which brand to pick, how much wattage you need, or what supply you should get.

Uh, after your listings, they Still don't know what to look for but Should know which brand to pick as this is exactly what your lists imply....what brands to look for and what ones to avoid. You haven't explained anything about Features they should look for.

Here is my, half PSU calculator, half what is floating around in my head.

So, how are people supposed to calculate their wattage needed if it's in your head? Are you telling them what their future systems are to look like here??

"So you will be doing the following in the FUTURE (to allow extra power for what you plan to do):"

You rank CPU's from Most to Least Consumption, yet you fail to explain how to calculate exactly what consumption they take so how is one to calculate what they'll need...or what types of connectors these differing CPU's will/may require..20 or 24 pin??

Also, you list PSU wattages seperately after each component, if you have this graphics card you need this PSU, but if you have this CPU, you need this PSU...does that mean that one won't be compatable if you have the other component setup??

Then you talk exclusively RAID setups, most normal users don't use RAID and may have many questions about SATA setups.

I'm sorry dude, but I just have a problem with the way this "Tutorial" is formatted and the information (not) given. It doesn't teach the regular user what different features are available in PSU's, the basic terminology some salesman is going to use at the local Radio Shack, nor how they're supposed to calculate wattage for THEIR future system and not one you dreamed up for them. Nothing about the "rails", Linear or Switched models, what "Modular Design" is (anyone knows a connections should be tight, modular or not...)

Alao, listing PSU's under headings such as you have is not accurate, I've seen reviews that challenge some of your "assumptions" so this is more an Opinion than fact. Folks can accept your opinion of course, if they feel that the information you give qualifies you as someone they should trust or not, or look it up themselves to concur, but still it is opinion as it is.

I have already explained to you just what it is we would like to see in an actual "Tutorial" if you wish to have one published, but as this one stands it will remain as a post, stating your opinions, just as any other member's posts are.

[Gotta See This Video.]

I only counted her saying that 6 times JDoors.....literally.

Like, I guess it's better than, like, her saying like, "Like" all the time eh, like people do like all the time now, cause that really, like, bugs me eh...

[Papa Drew]

Yah, definately dude!

Drew was a loved and respected member here, so anything about his personal site is welcomed openly here, just as any other member's personal sites are as well!

Still sux big time to think about our buddy Drew, but we'll always have our memories at least...RIP bud.

[My New System]

I was also looking at that graphics card Jeff so let me know how it works for you.

The testing sites show that it's a very capable card and very good for the price, is yours SLI capable?

So far, this is what my next system is going to look like..

Case - Thermaltake Shark

MB - Intel D975XBX 1066Mhz FSB

CPU - Intel E6700 Dual core 2.66Ghz X 2, 4MB unified L2 cache

RAM - OCZ Dual Channel 2048MB PC8000 DDR2 1000Mhz

Graphics - Nvidia 7600GT PCI-E

Sound - ? (integrated audio on MB is pretty awesome as it is)

HDD's - ?

PSU - ? (over 550 at least)

Optical's - DVR-CD burner X 2, unknown make yet, and yes...still a floppy drive too.

EDIT - Change in RAM memory specs

Check out the cool cooling fins on the minor chips...

[Besttechie Turns 2!]

Holy Crap....!!

(I can say that...not YOU )

Has it been 2 years already?

I guess so huh, I almost completely overlooked that lil factoid.

Well, what can I say but THANK YOU to all the wonderful folks that make up our BESTTECHIE.NET Community!!

Without you guy's-N-gal's we wouldn't be here, so I think the BIG thx has to go to you all out there that keep this place going and keep it the Best Place in the WWW to hang your hats!

Jeff & I have put allot of work into this little place for you folks and we have some Fantastic Mods & Staff that also work tirelessly to keep this place clean and presentable (for the most part anyway..) for when you drop in. We do this all for you guys, our members, and we appreciate the fact that you have made us this popular that we're now banning up to 6 - 8 spammer/trolls a week!!!

LOL!!!

Thx again Jeff for having the faith in me to make me #2 here and most of all, Thx to the Members, SuperMods, Moderators, Staff and Guests who drop in and make us what we are today!

[Computer Woes]

Yah, repair installs work pretty darned good most times! I actually haven't seen a repair install fail yet, and trash the personal data on the drive, so it's a fairly safe thing to do.

I didn't know you were still W98 JDoors??

How come no upgrade to XP yet....hardware issues?

XP has matured beatifully into MS's most stable and relaible platform ever, and so far from what I've seen with Vista, I'm staying with XP!! All the good stuff they originally were going to go with in Longhorn/Vista, have been dropped out and now it's nothing more than a resource hogging, slower OS with eye candy and not worth the upgrade!!

Most folks are going to have to upgrade hardware to go with Vista, and as it's going right now, they'll be very disappointed if they do spend the money to do that and find they don't run half as well as they did with XP...

[Goliath Is Missing]

Hi Marty

I'm sure he's Ok, he doesn't usually post too much here, I believe he hangs out mostly at WindowsBBS where Pete does most of his posting nowadays also.

I haven't talked to him lately and because of that, I'll send him an email just to see what he's been up to lately and I'll post back when I hear from him.

I'm sure he's ok tho as G-junior would've contacted me if anything was wrong.

[Important Notice For Dell Notebook Owners]

Hello Everyone

This notice was released today from Dell, that 4.1 million notebooks sold by Dell between April 2004 to July 18th of this year, will be recalled because of an extreme fire hazard created by the Lithium Ion batteries in them that are made by Sony.

Dell is recalling 4.1 million notebook computer batteries because they could erupt in flames, the company said yesterday. It will be the largest safety recall in the history of the consumer electronics industry, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said.

Dell, the world’s largest PC maker, said the lithium-ion batteries were made by Sony and were installed in notebooks sold from April 2004 to July 18 of this year.

The recall raises broader questions about lithium-ion batteries, which are used in devices like cellphones, portable power tools, camcorders, digital cameras and MP3 players. The potential for such batteries to catch fire has been acknowledged for years, and has prompted more limited recalls in the past. But a number of recent fires involving notebook computers, some aboard planes, have brought renewed scrutiny.

Anyone having purchased a Dell notebook between these dates that doesn't recieve a recall notice should contact Dell at their toll free number which can be found on this Dell Page on Battery Recall that has more info on this.

Thanks, and I hope you do not have one of these, or if you do...it has not yet exploded in flames...

[What Do Retired People Do All Day?, Billy Connolly On Retirement!]

I told you that you'd fit right in here didn't I Snyper....heheh!

You're just as depraved as the rest of us, well, maybe not as much as Mac is, but darn close.

[The Goodbye Letter]

That was Hilarious!

I loved it...I gotta send that to a few folks I know...heheh

[Ask God]

Thought for today

A man trying to understand the nature of God asked him, "God, how long is a million years to you"?

God answered, "A million years is like a minute."

Then the man asked, "God, how much is a million dollars to you"?

And God replied, "A million dollars is like a penny."

Finally, the man asked, "God, could you give me a penny"?

And God said,......... "In a minute."

Just thought everyone should read this so I posted it in here.

[What Are You Too Afraid To Do?]

"Page not Found" for your link Mac, too bad I was kinda interested in what it could be.

I've always been a type X personality (some call it type A too) where I find dangerous things are exciting....scary still, but exciting.

I don't do stupid stuff tho, I carefully calculate whether it's within my physical and mental limits before I go for it.

Even at work we don't take stupid risks unless we know there's a life to be saved for sure. Any doubt and we have to measure the risks involved of possibly trying to save a dead person. Sorry but I won't kill myself going after someone who has most likely expired already, and we know full well what people can survive and what they can't in a fire situation.

When I was a preteen and teen, I was very self concious except for talking in front of others. I think most teens are, but as I grew up I lost all that and have become very extroverted. My X-wife was always jealous at how easily I could make new friends and just chat with folks I never met before. It's something you actually have to conciously decide to do if you're a bit self concious still, but just say....Screw it! I'm gonna talk to these folks about....whatever, just talk and they'll talk back usually. What's it going to hurt? Nothing...unless you call the big guy an ape that is, or try to take his girlfriend into the next room alone...

Seriously tho, being uncomfortable in social settings is quite normal for most folks, but it only takes a little confidence to start turning that around and soon you'll be the life of the party I'll bet! Occasionally, when you do make a fool outta yourself, just say....whatever...you'll probably never see them again anyway.

[What Are You Too Afraid To Do?]

JDoors

You're a "Climber" then, and as long as you feel you can make the climb safely you'll continue on.

I'm the same way too, I used to freeclimb absolutely EVERYTHING! Got myself into a couple of tight situations doing that too, like finding a 15' thick vein of crumbly shale 75' up a 100' cliff...can't go down safely either...yeeks!

Had to persevere thru that stuff to finish, man that was scary. Never felt like a solid foothold anytime during that free climb thru the shale.

As long as I feel I have a grip I'll climb anything, but I won't stand at the edge and look over....nope...uh-uhh.

I was on the cover of a Skydiving book back in the late 70's, along with my brother who is also a skydiver. Hanging on a plane doesn't bother me in the least, but I tried BASE jumping a few times and it wasn't for me.

[What Is "luminous Paper?"]

Hi xxkbxx

I'm going to "thumbnail" your images so it doesn't mess with the page size formatting anymore.

Please use that type of image embedding please, especially with such oversize images.

Thx!

BTW - Pretty cool idea!

EDIT - I couldn't thumbnail as the images are not stored on BT, so I changed them to links instead.

[What Are You Too Afraid To Do?]

well I guess I'm kinda nerdy but I've always been afraid to change the ram in my computer with the machine still running. I have changed hard drives with the machine running.

stupid?........YES......but there again injuns aren't very smart.

Not stupid AT ALL!!!

RAM is NOT hot swappable, HDD's can be but not the RAM!

Changing RAM sticks with power on to the machine is a GREAT way to find out who's selling RAM cheap in your area...

[New Tutorial]

Hi Marty

you taught me the key board short cuts

over a hundred years ago

and i still use it for

OE and IE and thunder bird

Yes, for using INSIDE of programs already open, but this is used to OPEN those most used programs double quick, if you were confused about that at all.

I had forgotten about this sometime ago and when I came across it the other day again, I just had to show others this useful little option. I used to have most programs set up that way, but with a programmable keyboard I can program my F keys to do those functions also.

I have to turn on my F key lock to do it still so the KB shortcuts would still be faster most times, I'll have to set it up both ways I think!

Hi Flatiron

No prob buddy!

Same here, I only use the mouse when I have to. At work I've taught the others to use the KB shortcuts in the dispatch program and it has shaved an average of OVER 30 seconds off of dispatch times!! That adds up to lives saved in our business.

[What Are You Too Afraid To Do?]

So...you're gonna dance nekkid in the streets tomorrow or the next couple days???

Is that how I'm reading that?

(video highlights will be available at www.dumbnekkidguy.com)

Hitest - I'm also scared of hieghts, but I've made 1846 jumps from perfectly good aircraft.

There is a huge difference between standing on the edge on top of a 15 story building, and hanging from the side of an airplane at 14,000' ASL.

Your mind does not recognize the usual objects at that hieght and therefore doesn't really register altitude, but on top of the building you see cars, people, dogs, mailboxes...and your mind goes nuts!

Plus it helps to have a good parachute strapped to the back, but even that doesn't help much at low altitudes...

[Just A Random Mushy Thank You Thread]

Who are you again...??? Mac-who??

You know better than that dude, Luv Ya!

[New Tutorial]

hi dave those links wont open for me

what am i doing wrong

marty

Hi Marty

I'm not sure of your question here...did you make some shortcuts and they're not working, or did Sultan get it right and answer your question?

If you still need help don't hesitate to ask buddy!

[New Tutorial]

I have question, i need to know if the shortcut is already taken. is there a short of thing that will nofity me if the shortcut is already taken

Hi DD

No, there's no message that pops up unfortunately, but it's only if that program is open and has focus when it will stop the shortcut from working.

It doesn't matter that anything else uses that combination as long as it's not open and has focus, you can still use them for your programs.

Not many programs have 3 key stroke combinations really, and the ones that do don't have many. Most programs KB shortcuts are 2 keystroke combo's like ALT+F or CTRL+F kinda thing, that's why a 3 stroke combo will rarely have an issue. AFAIK, only my email program has a couple of 3 stroke combo's it uses, so I just have to make sure it doesn't have focus when I'm opening other programs this way.

Thx Robroy!

[New Tutorial]

Hiya Folks!

I've just finished a small tutorial about how to create a keyboard shortcut to open your most commonly used programs...Check It Out!

Keyboard shortcuts are real time savers and any Power User worth their salt uses them extensively. Almost all programs today have keyboard shortcuts in them to open menu's and quickly do other functions, and once you learn them you can speed your use considerably.

This tutorial is not how to use all keyboard shortcuts, but how to create your own to open your favorite programs instantly! It really speeds things up, you'll have to try it out.

I'll be writing a tutorial on how to use KB shortcuts in everyday computing to speed things up and make life much simpler, and save on your "Mouse Time" which really is a slow device once you get to know KB shortcuts.

Anyway, go have a look at my article and try it out yourself. It's simple to do, it'll probably take a whole 7 minutes to read it and actually make your first shortcut , what do you have to lose eh!!!

Take Care!

[Create Your Own Keyboard Shortcuts]

How to Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Start Your Favorite Programs

Hi Everyone!

This is a VERY handy little thing to have, to help you launch your favorite programs just that "Little Bit Faster"!

Anyone who uses keyboard shortcuts within Windows itself, Windows Programs, or Third Party Programs, knows how much faster they are compared to using the mouse to point & click at something. Power Users have known the secret to using the keyboard to navigate through program menu's & options for years, and pretty much all programs nowadays have keyboard shortcuts embedded into them, they make common tasks twice as fast as using the mouse.

Face it, the mouse is a fairly recent invention and before they were common, everything was done from the keyboard. Anytime you have to take your attention away from the keyboard to find the mouse, then watch the screen to find the cursor, move the cursor to the menu option you want, click it open, scroll down the list, highlight the option, then click it again to select the option....well that takes allot of time really. In some instances, time is money, or as the case can be in my job, Time is Life!

Now, I'm not saying this trick will save your life, or any other life for that matter, but once you realize how quick and simple keyboard shortcutting is you'll wonder how you ever got along without them!

I'll have a Tutorial on how to use keyboard shortcuts in your everyday computing very soon, but here is a small sample to help you launch your Favorite Programs in a flash.....a "Keyflash" that is.

Everyone who uses Windows knows what CTRL+ALT+DEL does right?? In XP it opens the Task Manager if configured to do so, or the Windows Security window if configured for that. Well all that is, is a "Keyboard Shortcut" to open a Windows program. That's right, all these tools are, are small programs (applets) to do a task for the user, and basically that's all that almost any program is, right.

Well, we can set a keyboard shortcut to open up any one of our favorite programs, faster than you can click on it's desktop icon, especially if you have to minimize other windows to get there. Wait...most of us use another keyboard shortcut to do that also, "Win Key+D", so lets learn how to Create our own Program Keyboard Shortcut"!

First, the program's shortcut icon must either be on the desktop or in the Start/All Programs menu. Second, the program shortcut cannot point to another shortcut icon, it must point to the program's exe icon. Third, it must be a 3 key combination using any 2 of CTRL, ALT, or SHIFT, and one of any other character (letter number or symbol).

Right click the program's shortcut icon on the desktop or in the All Programs menu, select Properties, and click inside the "Shortcut" box. By default the box has "None" in it and all you need to do is click inside this, you don't have to highlight and delete the "none" from the box.

Now choose any combination you wish using the above rules and hit that key combination, it automatically fills it in for you. By default the computer wants to start with CTRL+ALT, so if you just hit any character by itself, it will fill it in as such, CTRL+ALT+"character", if you want to start the combination differently you must hit all 3 keys to fill it in. (CTRL+SHIFT+*, SHIFT+ALT+*, etc)

So, lets try this with something simple to start and get you on the way. Go to your desktop and choose any shortcut to a program you use commonly, I'm going to use NoteTab Lite for this referrence, which is a Notepad editor that I use in place of Notepad. Right click the icon and select Properties, now click inside the shortcut box. The cursor should now be blinking beside the word None in the box. For my Notepad editor I want to use CTRL+ALT+N ("N" for NoteTab, you can use any letter, number, character you wish), so I can hit the 3 key combination of CTRL+ALT+N and it fills it in, or since CTRL+ALT is the default I could just hit the N key and it fills it in for me....try it out.

Now OK out of the Properties box and try the key combination, your program should open up right away.

You can do this for any and all programs you use more often than others, and you never have to minimize to the desktop or open the All Programs menu again...well maybe you will have to sometimes, but this will become such a time saver for you, you may forget how to access those by the time you need to do that again!

*NOTE*: The combination will NOT work, if an ACTIVE program has the same keyboard combo in it as the shortcut.

Example - Say IE is open and has the CTRL+ALT+J key combo as one of it's embedded shortcuts, if IE is the window with FOCUS, the combination will not open the intended program. Change focus to something else and it will work again.

Enjoy!