Computer topics often including hacks or debates over technology

[Soap Mactavish]

this forum is primarily based on making your computer faster based on techniques ive learned through experience also from techniques other skilled computer users have told me.

tip #1

this forum is primarily based on making your computer faster based on techniques ive learned through experience through some computing classes.

The advice im going to give today is going to help improve the gaming performance of your pc.  To do this i would strongly recommend updating your RAM. In fact, your CPU speed has little to do with the speed of your computer. While CPU cost is extremely high, RAM cost is relatively low compared with the improvements that would come from taking my advice. To find the correct parts for your computer there are several great places to get that information. instead of paying for geek squad. just go to your manufacturer's site or google your FULL computer name followed by technical specifications.

tip #2

If anyone is looking for a reliable word processing program, i recommend Microsoft Office (this is important because i rarely recommend anything from microsoft). However, if you cant afford to pay for this costly program, there is a free program available for both mac and pc called OpenOffice. This is basically a free download of the entire office suite. THIS IS ENTIRELY LEGAL. I am certain that this application doesn't give you any viruses whatsoever. Here is a link that will give you the free software.
macs- http://openoffice.idownload.org/?gclid=CPDgj4iNiZ4CFR0CswodRQcxpg
Windows- http://openoffice.cs.utah.edu/stable/2.4.3/OOo_2.4.3_Win32Intel_install_en-US.exe

Tip #3 any type of music, movie, or other certain types of media over 7 years old is deemed free by some sort of agency. i.e. Batman is entirely free because it was manufactured and put on the market over 7 years ago. However, if the company released a movie over 7 years ago and decides to remake or remaster the movie, then the movie can still be priced at whatever the producer wants as long as the remastered copy of the software was within the 7 year limit. The original Batman still remains the same even though they remade the movie.

Tip #4

today im going to be showing you how to enable root user on your mac. being able to log on as a root user is essential if you need to alter system files.
Open Directory Utility in its new home, which is /System/Library/CoreServices.
Unlock the application by clicking the padlock icon and entering your Administrator login.
Select Edit » Enable Root User.
Choose Edit » Change Root Password, and choose a password for the root user.
This is for mac only!

tip #5

for all you simpletons out there here is a tip from AG that i learned.
his is a VERY OLD "hack" that still works today. Basically, we are going to get admin access to your Mac without having any install disk (or any password to an admin account in the first place). This is good if you're too stupid to remember your password.
Step 1: Boot your computer. Before you see the Apple logo, hold Command(Apple)+S. This brings you to single user mode.
Step 2: Stop panicking. It's supposed to be a black screen with white text.
Step 3: Type in /sbin/mount -uw /
Press Enter
Step 4: Type in rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
Press Enter
Step 5: Type in reboot
Press Enter
That's it! Now you can view the intro movie and go through the whole setup process AGAIN. While doing so, you can create a brand new admin account. Just don't rename it exactly the same as the old one. Doing so will erase everything that account had(in theory).

Have Fun! Don't abuse it... tip from ag sorry all you windows users this cool tip is for mac users only. But i do have a couple command prompt comands for you.
color /?
dir /s
ipconfig /all
and for a buch of others just type help

Tip #6
today guys i'm sorry i didn't have time to look for a hack, however i have a statement. Google has pretty much a monopoly over internet and soon it will have a large portion of the mobile industry under its belt. My point im trying to make is that almost everything we do nowadays is related to google. Even their internet browser has been a hit (google chrome). With all these monopoly you can guarantee that almost everything internet and phone- related you do can be seen by google Inc. Why do you think they offered to give out google android free when they could have made millions, possibly billions of there operating system? Im not trying to sound paranoid but maybe you should think about this next time you decide to do a google search or the time when you are thinking of using google chrome. Im not commanding use something else, im just saying what is stopping google from just looking into whatever you are doing on the internet. 

"tip' #7
i realized that the last topic sparked the interest of many of you so i decided to write another one.
AT&T's monopoly over iPhone has been considered illegal by many of the major phone carriers. However, others claim that this is Apple's decision to sign a contract with whoever they want and on what ever terms that they want. We must listen to the merits to both sides of this argument seeing that no contract may interfere with the continuation of competitive pricing in an industry. I believe that it is Apple's right to make any contract they want with AT&T, but i believe that they would get many more subscribers on Verizon. Some consumers would like to see Apple stay exclusive to AT&T to make other mobile phone makes be innovative and make phone good enough to challenge iPhone. This has already started says some, with the recent release of GOOGLE ANDROID."droid phone" paired with google android has signed an exclusive agreement with Verizon. (Note how both iPhone and Droid Phone both seem to have comparable agreement deals) Sprint has been pretty much left in the dust seeing as no one sign an exclusive deal with them. (then again no really cares about sprint) How long wil it take for other phone networks to start suing Verizon like they did Apple? Should Apple be able to keep their deal with AT&T? ARE ALIENS REAL? please give me your opinions

debate #1

Should unregulated distribution of copyrighted works over Internet be allowed?

I believe that the people that created the "file"  should be able to decide if they think it is ok to distribute it for free. However, the other two sides of this debate are: "Once you buy the file it should be yours to do whatever you want with it" and "If a file costs money then every person should have to buy the file, due to if you dont charge for the files then sales for the record companies would drop dramatically".  My argument is that if you download a file freely from the internet then you are pretty much stealing the money that the artist deserves.  he is trying to make honest royalties in this competitive market and you are being counterproductive when you illegally download.

tip #8

Today im going to be talking about different backup options. RAID is basically a backup system for your computer. For example, if you have 2 hard drives and you decide to download a file off iTunes, you hard drive #1 automatically mirror itself onto hard drive 2. Causign both hard drives to have that certain file. I personally wouldn't recommend this configuration to you guys (you don't have anything important enough).
If you are lucky enough to have 2 hard drives i would recommend you use both of them separately. Also, another good idea is to use wireless backup. Im a big fan of Time Machine created by apple. Wireless backups allow you to backup all your data  without needing to adjust you daily schedule. This is because the computer will run on a schedule, which means that the hard drive will upload all the data off your computer at predetermined points of time. Also if you dont have the money to get a second hard drive there is always internet storage. I am a big fan of dropbox. You don't need to do anything, just move the files you want to the dropbox folder on your computer and it will automatically sync them. You get 2Gb for free. Just enough to get my important files safe. (swbf customs )

[Xfire Keenmike aka cull]

cool, i hope to follow this and learn.

[aeria.]

Open Office > Microsoft Office anytime.

[Soap Mactavish]

Open Office > Microsoft Office anytime.

um i dont know about that ag, but it is free so that is a excellent feature.

[aeria.]

As far as my testing goes, Open Office was more productive for me compared to MS Office. Not only that but you don't pay a thing for it.

[Xfire Keenmike aka cull]

you ask what is the best operating system? i see the list and will vote on the one i know. i dont think even if i had enough money i would buy a MAC OS X. i kind of rather build a pc like i want.

[Soap Mactavish]

you ask what is the best operating system? i see the list and will vote on the one i know. i dont think even if i had enough money i would buy a MAC OS X. i kind of rather build a pc like i want.

MAC OS X is actually cheaper than windows. OSX runs at around 30$ upgrade and windows runs at around a 110$ upgrade.

[Jedikiller]

You can actually get Windows for about that price if you play your cards right. Also, with a Mac, you're paying a lot more for the actual system as well.

It balances out in the end.

[Xfire Keenmike aka cull]

Russell, Jedikiller, you guys have good points, thank you.

[Darth Verik]

ye you guys have both good points, but i still cant get it how russell knows that much about it o_O i mean,,,he's only like 15 (mozart also was 10 0r something xD we got a new genious)

[Mac]

for all you simpletons out there here is a tip from AG that i learned.
his is a VERY OLD "hack" that still works today. Basically, we are going to get admin access to your Mac without having any install disk (or any password to an admin account in the first place). This is good if you're too stupid to remember your password.
Step 1: Boot your computer. Before you see the Apple logo, hold Command(Apple)+S. This brings you to single user mode.
Step 2: Stop panicking. It's supposed to be a black screen with white text.
Step 3: Type in /sbin/mount -uw /
Press Enter
Step 4: Type in rm /var/db/.applesetupdone
Press Enter
Step 5: Type in reboot
Press Enter
That's it! Now you can view the intro movie and go through the whole setup process AGAIN. While doing so, you can create a brand new admin account. Just don't rename it exactly the same as the old one. Doing so will erase everything that account had(in theory).

Have Fun! Don't abuse it...

I did that months back in an attempt to get rid of parental controls and it failed to work for me. I was running Leopard, can't remember what version.

[aeria.]

I did that months back in an attempt to get rid of parental controls and it failed to work for me. I was running Leopard, can't remember what version.

Yeah, but it seemed to work 2 days ago on a fairly new MB running Leopard. Quite odd.

ye you guys have both good points, but i still cant get it how russell knows that much about it o_O i mean,,,he's only like 15 (mozart also was 10 0r something xD we got a new genious)

These tips aren't new and doesn't make Russell a genius. They're just something we learn from google

[aeria.]

Oh and one more thing, try separating the tips. The 3rd tip is actually 3 different ones. They are all over the place...

[Soap Mactavish]

i try and pull the hacks i give you from a different people i know. If you guys want ill start labeling the one's i know. Both tip #1 and 2 were mine in its entirety. i pulled tip #3 from ag as you can see i sourced it. and to address you ag i try and keep the tips separated by day not tip but that is a good idea ill start using that. Also guys i will try and have a new tip, hack, software version, hardware etc. up every day. As it has been noted to me before i will run out of tips there is always constant innovation to be reviewed so im not worried. Please reply to my post with whether you like it or not, also tell me if you knew the info i gave before i posted it.

[Xfire Keenmike aka cull]

its ok with me how the information gets out. as for me i am past trying to figure out who is who. i say sharing is better no matter how it gets out to others.