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» firefox 3.1beta is friggin fast.

seriously, why use anything else?

after testing out the new beta, the first thing that hits you is the noticeable speed difference. it’s really fast. and because i don’t feel like summing up what the other sites are saying, i’ll just quote this tidbit from TGDaily.

The first public beta of Firefox 3.1 offers a handful of new features such as a 3D preview during tab switching, location awareness, better compliance with web standards and much improved JavaScript performance. Additional features planned for the beta 2 include a new privacy browsing mode, an Opera-like Speed Dial feature, improved private data deletion and URL bar tweaks.

・chrome was fun, but it’s featureless, and like a lot of Google’s products, forever in beta.

・IE is old news and will forever remain a dinosaur in the browser world.

・safari is meh for me, and i’ve never used opera.

anyways, for those of you who are reluctant to switch over because of add-on compatibility, there is one way to get around that.

1. open up Firefox 3.1b and type “about:config” into the address bar
2. right click and select New>Boolean
3. enter “extensions.checkCompatibility” for the preference name
4. set it to false

this will allow you to use most of your 3.0 add-ons.

(just some links i would rather put here than on my sidebar.)



GAMING

serebii.net (d/p pokedex)
pokemontrading@gamefaqs (pokemon diamond/pearl trading boards)
serenesforest.net (fire emblem in-depth guide)
lifehacker.com (soft modding your Wii for DVD playback!)
espalnds.com (safe spanish site for .NDS direct downloads)




COMPJUNK

w3schools.com (how-to web design by W3Schools)
newegg.com (great place for computer goods)
turnpoint.net (how to build a cantenna)
bittorrent.com (torrent app. because azureus/vuze blows hard)
mininova.org (reliable torrent site with an active community)
pidgin.im (the best multi-protocol messaging program on the internet)




MUSIC

Musicguymics-Room@ebay (amazing ukulele store on ebay)
chindami.com (ちんだみ工芸のブログ)
music.goo.ne.jp (good place for japanese lyrics and such)




LEARN

guidetojapanese.org (good guide to basic Japanese)
simplesanshin.com (A how-to guide to the sanshin)




PHOTOGRAPHY

dpreview.com (best camera review site and forum on the net)
photozone.de (good lens reviews)
cambridgeincolour.com (digital photography tutorials)




(more will be added here overtime and continuously.)

I don’t care what you say, Vista blows fucking balls. You can argue it all you want, but no matter what you say or what data you present—you’re wrong.

With that said, I’ll get to the topic at hand:

I successfully made the “downgrade” from Windows Vista to XP on my HP Pavilion dv2000 series laptop; specifically, the dv2745se. And because I know that there are plenty of people out there who want to do the same thing on their new HP laptops, I’ll explain the steps I went through to get it done. (Keep in mind that I’m writing this with the assumption you have basic knowledge of drivers.)

1. I strongly recommend that you create a recovery disc set. If you’re on an HP, there should be pre-installed HP software to help you do this easily. Just pull up their help program and search it out. Having these discs on hand will save you if you somehow screw everything up.

For me, it took several DVDs to get a three disc set. For some reason I kept getting errors during the verification period of disc creation, but was able to successfully get through it after end-processing all running applications and leaving the laptop to be.

2. Here’s the fun part! Pull out a fairly large USB flash drive and get ready to start collecting all the necessary drivers for your laptop.

For dv2745se users, you’ll want to first get the nForce 630a chipset driver. (file labeled “14.10_nforce_630a_winxp_english_whql.exe”)

Next, get the NVIDIA Graphics driver here. (file labeled “15655.exe”)

Up after that is the Broadcom wireless LAN driver

Those Quick Launch buttons require at least .NET2.0 framework, so get that too.

Then of course, the Quick Launch buttons.

Then go to this page and download these items: Conexant High Definition Audio Driver The webcam drivers The mouse drivers The latest HP wireless assistant software Ricoh 5-in-1 Card Reader Driver LightScribe Host Software

The most difficult thing about downgrading with HP Pavilion laptops are the sound related drivers. You will need the Microsoft Universal Audio Architecture Bus Driver for High Definition Audio for Windows XP SP2, so search “kb888111xpsp2” in Google and download the executable. I found one that worked for me here. If you’re not installing SP2, search “kb888111” instead.

It’s also possible you’ll need an alternate Conexant driver, so download this as well.

There might be a chance that I’m missing something, but I’m 88 to 93% sure that this should do it for drivers and software.

3. Goodbye Vista—and please—let the door hit you on the way out, so as to fling you far from my sight.

Reformat time! I had a Windows XP SP2 CD on me, so I reformatted with that, but in order to do so, I had to set the boot order to read CDs first. You can do this on dv2745se machines by hitting f10 during the POST.

The rest should be self-explanatory, so read on after you’ve got an XP desktop on your screen.

4. Driver installation is such a pain in the ass on this machine that I’ve been forced to create a new word in order to describe the immense size of the pain-in-the-assness: BIGIANTANORMOUS.

Start with the important ones, so the chipset and graphics. If given the option, only install the drivers and avoid the software. Make sure to restart once after each install, and all installs from here on out.

Next, since I like tackling all the difficulties head-on first, we’ll take on the dreaded sound drivers. a) Run the kb888111xpsp2.exe to install the MS UAA hotfix, and restart when done. b) Install the conexant audio driver. IT SHOULD FAIL, so what we’ll want to do now is manually install the driver by going to the device manager, finding the missing audio device, and updating the driver. Say no to connecting to Windows Update and choose the “advanced” method of installation. Then opt to “choose the driver to install,” which will bring you to a list. Select “sound, video and game controllers,” and hit the “have disk” option at the bottom right. Browse for that driver that you failed to install by going to the place the executable extracted to, most likely c:/swsetup/xxxxxx. Find the .inf file and install away. c) Don’t forget to reset after all that.

Now install the .NET2.0 fix. Restart.

Quick Launch buttons. Restart.

Now test your sound buttons to see if they respond. If the mute button doesn’t turn orange when you hit it, which it probably won’t, you’ll need to manually install the alternate Conexant driver that we downloaded. Run the executable, REJECT TO OVERWRITE ANYTHING IF IT ASKS YOU, manually install it through the device manager, and then restart. Hopefully that’ll do it for you, but if not, you can find more help here.

After that mess, also manually install the modem driver. Restart.

Broadcom driver, which also must be installed manually. Restart.

From here on out it should be a rocky ride, but at least in a downhill direction. Install all the drivers we downloaded, being sure to restart when asked to, and by the end you should have no unknown devices plaguing your device list.

PAT YOURSELF ON T3h BACK. WE BE DONE.

Some end notes and observations: I spoke with an HP representative before downgrading my computer to XP. They highly recommended that I stick with Vista, as there could be compatibility problems with the computer’s hardware and an XP operating system. BULL SHIZZLE! There are other, older HP laptops out there running the same gear as my current laptop, and yet HP does not have the necessary drivers listed under the XP “software and drivers” section on the dv2745se page. Making it an absolutely painful transition from Vista to XP; however, this laptop defied their odds, and I am now running faster and lighter than I was before.

No thanks to HP.

And to Microsoft: fuck you guys for being so fail.

My next computer is going to be a Mac.

Part I

So apparently recent malware is being created to swiftly attack your anti-virus software. This means that even if you’ve got Avast! or Norton installed, they become dead weight on your computer’s hard drive. Even Spybot and AdAware become unusable, and what’s more surprising is that you can’t even search a solution on your default web browser! That’s right, search “Avast” in Google and every result containing certain key words will be inaccessible.

I bring this topic up because I just had to deal with one of these vicious viruses that popped out of some sketchy software I shouldn’t have been downloading. As always, before opening up anything I download, I scanned it with my Avast! Home Edition and results turned up negative for malicious activity. “Awesome,” I thought, and proceeded to run the executable.

The instant I double clicked was the instant several Avast! windows popped up warning me of viruses being embedded into my computer—-the deed had been done.

The symptoms: - Avast can’t or won’t connect to the server for update - Windows Automatic Updates won’t work - Can’t access sites containing information on killing or preventing malware infections - Other spyware removal software also can’t or won’t update

The cure: What I did was peruse the sites I could view, and burned whatever information available into my brain. I then disregarded most of what I found, and decided to manually update Avast! by downloading the update on my second unbugged computer, and sharing the patch through my network.

After that I restarted into safe mode by holding down the F8 key during the POST (the check up your computer does when it starts up), and ran a scan of my computer using Avast!; I found the little bugger. Avast! then suggested that I let it do a scan pre-system boot in order to catch the virus before it was activated on start up. I allowed it, Avast! restarted my comp and started to scan my hard drive pre-boot—-very simple, but it takes a while for it to scan depending on your drive size. I played around on my second computer, occasionally checking back on the virus scan, and noticed that Avast! had found the culprits. I was given the option to delete the several malicious files and I did.

Problem solved. Or at least I hope it’s solved. Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s solved because it seems solved, so it must be solved.

Happy fishing.

Part II

IT RETURNED!!

But I got rid of it again. I followed the same steps as before, this time running Avast! scans repeatedly in safe mode and normal mode, at quick, standard, and thorough levels. I then went to my temporary documents folder, accessible by entering %temp% into an IE address field, and deleted every file in there. I did this because the virus I was fighting—-a wild malware of the Win32:Vundo family—-has a habit of keeping an executable of itself in your temporary documents in order to reinstall itself if you happen to delete any of its files.

I ran several more scans—-which take quite a while, but I was busy doing homework so I didn’t really notice the time taken—-to ensure that no vundo virus traces were left on my computer.

This time it is definitely dead.

Since the virus disables any automatic updating of any of your software, specifically Windows Automatic Updates, I had to manually reconfigure Auto Updates to run again. To do that, follow these steps:

1) run> “services.msc” 2) find “Automatic Updates” in the list and double click it 3) in the “startup type” option, select “automatic” from the drop down menu, and click apply at the bottom right 4) check to make sure the service status is started. if not, click the start button

Voila, everything is back to normal.

Originally posted at impsvillage.com [requires user/pass]

*Several people have suggested I tell my story on imps, so I am. I have also checked the rules here, and don’t believe that I am breaking any, but Mods can correct me if I’m wrong. I only mean to be informative.*

Almost a month ago the new Solar server opened. A lot of us were excited to get in on the first week events—two times the experience, daily events, and free gifts to the new players on Solar.

I had one Rushu-dedicated main account, so I created another account and paid the subscription fee so as to take advantage of the first week benefits on Solar.

Problem: my account was not being recognized as a subscriber’s.

So I checked the forum’s problem FAQ and did what it said. I sent a ticket to Dofus support, and four days later, I received a computer generated response listing things that I could check. Whether I’m using the latest client, whether I’ve set my cookies correctly, etc… Already upset about missing out on four days of double XP, I told them to hurry up and fix the problem before time runs out.

I recieved a second response after the Solar event had ended, saying that it’s because I’m not an international user that I haven’t been able to connect. Then they linked me here. Which is funny and ironic because on that forum Kaoly states that “The account has to be created in English to be set in the International Community.” Which is what I did, and what I am. I am an international user and have been for over half a year.

So by then I was obviously upset. After all, I paid for something that I didn’t get.

I made two posts on their forums to express my resentment and shock at how horrible their customer service was. Neither post was out of line or against their posted rules, and neither post was made within the last two weeks. The first post outlined how the people at Dofus Support responded to me, and how it was poor. My second post, made in retaliation for horrible customer service, was on how french law requires that firms must allow customers to “return any purchases within 7 days of delivery,” and suggested to others that they could take action in this way.

But after creating those posts I dropped the whole thing and never looked back. I gave up on resolving the problem, decided to take my lumps on the whole deal, and went along my business. Then today I went to check my e-mail and was surprised to see that I had received two love letters from the beloved Ankama Team.

You do not have anymore access to neither the forum nor the game.

Reason : Behavior detrimental to the good atmosphere forums. Critics of the game, Ankama and other players are welcome, but it is important to put the forms and not disturb other users of the forum.

Your account will be restored on 2008-07-20.

To date, your account has 0 warning and 1 ban

The Ankama Team.

This is two weeks after I had given up arguing with Ankama, and two weeks since the last response they gave my submitted ticket. So after much frustration, finally giving up, and NOW being banned, the last straw has finally been drawn.

1. I paid for something I didn’t get.
2. I complained in a mannerly fashion, and got banned for it.
3. I was never warned or told my behavior was “detrimental.”
4. My problem has never been solved or responded to.

I’m not the only one either, which is why my posts received positive responses from the many others in my situation. I know many of you out there love the game, and may find it hard to believe, but Ankama does not treat many of its own subscribing customers with even the slightest decency. A lot of you are lucky to have never had problems, but many of us aren’t, and so I make this post on behalf of the ignored out-casts. I will get my account back very soon, and when I do, I’ll give away all my hard earned goodies and say goodbye to the good times I had at Dofus.



さようなら～（T_T）g”



Note:

• The BBB (Better Business Bureau) rates Ankama Games as unsatisfactory because of untimely or failure to respond to customer complaints.
• I had done everything in my power, and nothing against the rules to try and resolve my problem. (I have read the TOS, and forum rules several times.)
• I did complain, and was righteously angry, but i must reiterate that I never broke any rules.