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• Nearly live shoutbox

  Last Message 4 days, 7 hours ago

  2 guests are online.

  • usasma : Just lost my dog of 16 years, and a cat of 9 years last month - our prayers are with you.
  • patrycja : how are you A?
  • Ness : SAVE OUR BRINA!!!
  • DjLizard : Gordon Le Mew: Edit system.ini, in [386ENH] add MessageBackColor =2
  • Gordon Le Mew : DAF for Windows 3.1 please. I'm getting a blue screen but would prefer green or red. K, thanks, now get to work. Merry Christmas Mr. Lizard.
  • Guest_503 : openclose
  • Guest_566 : error 12029
  • Guest_4807 : Any update on DAF with Vista support? Oddly enough it was suggested by a tech support rep at Microsoft when I had installer problems with XP!
  • Bredbånd : Nices
  • DjLizard : This shoutbox is not for tech support.
  • Guest_1530 : On a Vista Home Premium notebook: "You need permission to perform this action" is received every time I attempt to create a new folder on the desktop or download to it. My account has administration privileges. The code is 3AD05575-8857-48 50-9277-11B85BDB 8E09. Thank You!
  • BiffSteelChin : Something something, your mama, something something....oh and thanks for remembering my pcmcia card...i had almost forgotten about it
  • DjLizard : Thanks Guest_4524! Fixed!
  • Guest_4524 : err the may and june and april ones anyway
  • Guest_4524 : mp3s of your Computer America show are down and i'm bored
  • guest : Nevermind! I just found in my Favs
  • guest : Hi, I forgot the names of 2 online companies you recommended for memory. Please again? Thanks!
  • Guest_4171 : open close cd drive
  • Tarun : @Guest 4175: «link»
  • DjLizard : Kahlil Moonwalker: No, it's being worked on again. It will take me a long time since I work up to 70 hours a week.
  • Guest_4520 : hi!
  • Kahlil Moonwalker : This program hasn't been updated in 2 years. Could you perhaps release the source code under GPL?
  • Guest_4175 : Microsoft support suggested I use the address "hppt://djlizar d.net/software/D ial-a-fix-v0.60. 0.24.zip ;" to help me download the SP3 Windows XP update but i get Page no longer exists when making this entry. Has the address changed for dial a fix?
  • Guest_3618 : Im out here!
  • Guest_476 : Is anyone out there?
  • BiffSteelchin : <30MB is bloated? And I have used AVG on many machines since 7.0 and have yet to see any resource leeching. Updating issues and the occasional spontaneous scan for no reason, yes...but other than that it's a decent program...especi ally for free
  • Guest_1694 : Thanks so much for your defacto help. I'm sure there must be some company who would buy your programs if this hasn't occured already !!! Happy holidays !
  • Guest_1694 : I recently found dial a fix and your program is fantastic.
  • Rossco.eu : Theres nothing wrong with .NET =P And your just jealous you aint got a Mac ( I have 3 XD )
  • Tarun : 394: AVG's bloated, has had recent resource leeching issues and the recent removal of user32.dll

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(Update below)

Unfortunately we have recently discovered that our beloved cat of 7 years, Sabrina, is very sick.

She stopped eating a few days ago (the same time we changed her food brand) and we didn't recognize the signs of illness. I thought she was just being a primadonna about her food (like most cats are when you switch brands), so I changed it back. She won't eat that either. Fortunately she was still drinking water, but she won't even eat a treat. Something is wrong: after watching her sniff a can of freshly opened tuna without even so much as licking it, it was time to act.

We took her to the emergency vet and discovered after some testing (x-ray) that she has an obstruction in her stomach (a round foreign object of some sort) and she will need surgery or else her liver will fail. Her skin and ears have already jaundiced (although you can't easily tell; she's a black bombay) from the liver working overtime trying to digest whatever it is (we figure it's tinsel).

We have just enrolled in a good pet insurance (www.petcareinsurance.com) but it hasn't kicked in yet, and the initial visits to the emergency vet and overnight stay (she needed an IV/fluids to get stabilized) will set us back a bit.

We're hoping you will help us with that by donating a few bucks to Save Our Brina. A PayPal account is not required (you can use a regular credit card).

Here are some pictures, in chronological order, of our Brina, and with this, we hope to take many more.

This is one of the earliest pictures of Sabrina, taken with a very terrible Kodak camera:

Sabrina sometimes wakes up with her tongue sticking out and it stays that way for a while until she's had her morning coffee:

That's my brother Jeff on the right, in a picture taken in 1989.

Here's Sabrina hanging out inside of a Mountain Dew box:

Sabrina sports her new stylish bandana + collar:

She actually likes her collar a lot, unlike most cats which will defy your every attempt to put one on them.

Sabrina loves boxes, as you can tell from the teeth marks on this box that came from some cheesy "game":

Sabrina, hanging out on the couch with some Halloween stuff:

So that's our Brina.

Here are some stats:
Full name: Sabrina Jean Owens Cooke
Likes: cardboard, long sits on the couch, tuna, potted meat, talking (she carries on meowing conversations with us), cockroaches, lizards (especially DjLizards)
Dislikes: hissing sounds, soda, anyone not in the immediate family
Favorite toy: Milk rings

Help Save Our Brina!

Update 12/29/08 10:16 AM:
She's doing very poorly... she is quite weak and kind of shaky. The vet isn't sure if she will make it through the trauma of surgery.

Update 12/30/08 2:00 PM:
She made it through surgery, but she can't even lift her head she's so weak. They found a hairball obstruction as well as the weird object that showed up on her x-ray.

Update 12/31/08 9:00 AM:
She can move a little bit, and has eaten a half can of food! She's in an incubator to keep her warm, bless her heart.

Update 12/31/08 6:00 PM:
She can now keep her own body temperature, but she's not able to move most of her limbs yet. She's doing a bit better. Pray for our Brina!

Update 01/02/08 7:30 PM:
I'm finally home from work and Vanessa has brought home our Brina. She has nasty stitches in her stomach and is shaved in several places (for shots, surgery, etc). She appears weak but becomes incredibly strong whenever you try to feed her or give her medicine! She won't eat on her own yet so we have to force feed her with a syringe.

Update 01/03/08 11:00 AM:
She still doesn't want to eat on her own. You have to shoot food into her mouth with a syringe while holding her down. :(

Update 01/05/08
Vanessa had to take her back to the vet because she was just not being cooperative with regards to eating. She turned yellow again and now she must have a feeding tube inserted in her neck so that she will eat. The vet will take good care of her. We miss our Brina.

Internet Explorer 8 is not supported by Dial-a-fix at this time. If you have IE 8 installed and run Dial-a-fix, you may receive many "Error 127" messages because Internet Explorer 8 replaces a lot of registerable components with non-registerable ones. This is OK - simply ignore all of the errors. Dial-a-fix is still able to do its thing on other files, and the no damage has been done to your system during these error messages.

A future version of Dial-a-fix will support Internet Explorer 8 by ignoring those unregisterable components.

"SuperSpeed" USB 3.0 is on its way...

Story:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10083081-64.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

It will support Vista.

Windows 7

My personal hard drive is failing, so I had to go to Digital Doctors and clone it to a new drive, just like old times. Hard drives suck. There's only one bad sector on it but when the system runs across it, all hell breaks loose.

ddrescue is your friend!

While cloning, it was only going 15 to 20 MB/s even on the good parts. I then realized that the -b flag to ddrescue would allow me to force it to go maximum speed. By using -b 4096 it began going 70 to 80 MB/s on the parts of the drive that are working fine.

Don't forget about the good ole data recovery article.

I was so busy I forgot about my birthday. It was August 3rd.

Financial struggle

Times are tough around here. We're a one income family living in a two income country/state. Although my wife has tried numerous times to get a job, due to 1) the economy sucking and 2) all the kids taking up all the employment with their summer jobs, we have been unable to find anything steady for her. When she did find a job she was laid off on the very first day (not her fault). The second time she found a job she hurt her back and is right now laid up in bed in agony. In my new career I am working 50 to 60 hour work weeks at a slightly higher pay rate than when I was at Digital Doctors, but it is not enough to supplant the fact that I'm the sole provider. Once my new career is in full effect (offices open, we're on the road, etc) I'll be okay, but right now we are financially crippled. This is my second post like this, and for that I am ashamed, but sometimes I just have to stop and ask for help. I'm calling out to the internet for assistance! If you have $5 or more to spare and like Dial-a-fix or my music, please consider donating.

Donate to DjLizard

Dial-a-fix

Dial-a-fix's fate is currently in the hands of my trusted manager Fred de Vries. He is searching for either a large company to buy it outright (for a lump sum) or failing that, a small team of trustworthy freeware guys/gals who will take care of it. Don't worry, were a large company to actually make an offer, they would have to fully abide by my large list of rules in order to be accepted. These rules would require that Dial-a-fix's spirit is not tarnished in any way (and that it remains free). The end result would be a product that is actually getting updates and support, not to mention widespread adoption due to a larger name being attached to it. I even have a list of bugs that need to be fixed that I will give to them. So, although I'm selling out, I won't let anyone sell out Dial-a-fix itself (by creating a "pro" version or putting advertisements in it and other garbage). If any large companies are looking at this and want to buy it, contact 54321fredvries123456789@123456789gmail.com (delete the two 123456789 parts and the 54321 part).
I really wanted to continue working on it myself but time just can't allow for that, and I fear it shall stagnate and die if I don't put it into capable hands soon.

The data on the DjLizard.net wiki has been moved to wiki.Lunarsoft.net where it can be properly cared for.

Also, I uploaded a bunch more stuff to my last.fm artist account.

EDIT: Some stuff is up on my Last.fm page!

Hi all. I've been away for a very long time because I've... switched careers! I am no longer fixing computers for a living. Alas, I have left Digital Doctors (who are fucking awesome) and have begun settling in to the field of financial and investment management. Yep, I will learn everything I can about managing money. My work ethic and style forces me to be the best at everything I do, so eventually, I should be as good with investing and money management as I am at fixing Windows issues.

Yes, this is kind of an odd change, and quite abrupt at that, but it is for the best. I am totally done with computers. I was becoming sick of the thanklessness.

My wiki is being taken over by Lunarsoft.net, where it will finally get updated, but I'm not sure what to do with Dial-a-fix just yet. If I find the time and desire, I might update it, but that's not likely to happen very soon (if at all). I work about 60 hours a week now. Hopefully I can find some trustworthy developers to pass on the "legacy" of Dial-a-fix.

I may update this site a bit (for instance, the theme) and maybe put up some of my old music (and some of my unreleased stuff nobody's ever heard) just so I can at least have some content again. :)

EDIT: Some stuff is up on my Last.fm page!

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