Help the dummy

[Fist and Faith]

I guess maybe part of this can be discussed without the religious overtones that MM and I thought shouldn't be in the Loresraat.

Loremaster, you and I both consider an uncaused anything to be more likely than anything having always existed. But do we know of anything that rules out the latter? In my mind, both are impossible, yet, clearly, at least one is the case. Is the one I prefer contemplating truly the only one that could be the case? Or is it just my "gut feeling" that non-mathematical infinities just don't exist.

[Xar]

Here's a question. If we could pull it off, and if the universe is finite, could we send a ship to the edge, turn around, and watch the Big Bang take place? After all, we're seeing galaxies as they existed millions or billions of years ago, and Trelaine saw what earth was like hundreds of years ago.

Well, it is possible, but of course it all depends on the expansion rate of the universe relative to the speed of your ship. The question is - does the expansion of the universe observe the not-faster-than-light principle? I'm not sure, given that the speed of light as a limit is inherent to the universe, and would likely have no meaning outside the universe (if such a thing is possible). So it could be that the universe's edge is moving faster than you could ever reach it. Then again, there are some very fancy (and untestable) theories out there that claim things such as the fact that you could never possibly reach the edge. Besides, even if you got to the edge and turned back, you wouldn't see the BB; even if you stood one micron within the edge, you'd see only something that happened a teeny tine fraction of time after the BB. To see the BB, you would have to get over the edge, because the edge itself was part of the BB.

[Loredoctor]

Here's a question. If we could pull it off, and if the universe is finite, could we send a ship to the edge, turn around, and watch the Big Bang take place? After all, we're seeing galaxies as they existed millions or billions of years ago, and Trelaine saw what earth was like hundreds of years ago.

Well, it is possible, but of course it all depends on the expansion rate of the universe relative to the speed of your ship. The question is - does the expansion of the universe observe the not-faster-than-light principle? I'm not sure, given that the speed of light as a limit is inherent to the universe, and would likely have no meaning outside the universe (if such a thing is possible). So it could be that the universe's edge is moving faster than you could ever reach it. Then again, there are some very fancy (and untestable) theories out there that claim things such as the fact that you could never possibly reach the edge. Besides, even if you got to the edge and turned back, you wouldn't see the BB; even if you stood one micron within the edge, you'd see only something that happened a teeny tine fraction of time after the BB. To see the BB, you would have to get over the edge, because the edge itself was part of the BB.

Good post.

[danlo]

Why? (sorry to aid religious overtones but metaphysics and quantum mechanics are bound to meet at some point--even the greatest string theorists tend to agree on this. Yes I agree it's the way you approach this point that's important, Null... )

[Fist and Faith]

I knew I had a thread somewhere that would be right for this.

Everybody in the house has access to this computer. How do I stop anyone from downloading anything without my permission? Too many programs are going on, and maybe that's why I'm having a problem with "virtual memory." Is there a way to require a password for downloading programs?

[matrixman]

I think you're going to have to lay the law down: set up a master "Administrator" account for yourself, and "regular" accounts for the other users. That will allow you to set limits on what changes other users can make to your computer. Anyone who is not an Admin who then tries to download and install stuff will be denied. That's the only way I know of to force other users to go through you. (Any advice of mine is normally useless, but you asked.)

It goes without saying that if you forget your Admin password, you're screwed...

[Fist and Faith]

Yeah, I was thinking along those lines, too. Wondered if there was something easier, like blocking particular sites. Thanks.

[Avatar]

It's possible to block particular sites too. If you're using firefox, just install the "fox filter" addon. It lets you block sites from a list, by URL or by keywords. The free version works fine, but the settings are editable. Password protecting your settings needs registration.

(Oh hell...it used to be free to register...not anymore though...here's the URL in case you want to check it out...if the kids aren't too computer savvy, you might get away with not having a password...dunno. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4351 )

--A

[Fist and Faith]

Yeah, I have many sites blocked with IE. I just want to block downloading, too.

[wayfriend]

You can configure IE to disable downloading. It's under Internet Options > Security > Custom Level. There's a top-level section on Downloads if you look for it.

[Fist and Faith]

AH! Thank you!

[Fist and Faith]

Been a while for this thread. Not that I haven't been a dummy in two years, mind you...

How do you seriously clean the crap from a harddrive? We don't have tone of programs, and haven't loaded more than a few in the last couple years. We don't save pics or videos on the hd. We do Disk Cleanup and CCleaner at least every day. And yet, we're getting dangerously low on space on this computer.

How do we get back the space?

[I'm Murrin]

By uninstalling and deleting stuff.

[Fist and Faith]

I'm saying. There's nothing to delete and no programs to uninstall. We don't do anything with this computer other than surf. But the memory disappears, I assume because small amounts are not removed when we clear the cache, useDisk Cleaner, and use Ccleaner.

[I'm Murrin]

When you're using clean up programs like that (assuming you're using them correctly) the only stuff taking up hard disk capacity should be the files and programs you're keeping on there.

What's the size of your hard disk? Which programs are installed?

[Fist and Faith]

There are only several programs at the Uninstall feature of the Control Panel. Things like Adobe, Norton, Media Player... And a free program I downloaded to edit images, Photofiltre. Are there many downloadable programs that don't show up at Uninstall?

[Avatar]

Most programs will show up there. You can also see installed programs in CCleaners "Uninstall" section, and uninstall from there.

Make sure the cleaner is deleting all your temp files and your internet cache and history etc. And emptying the recycle bin.

How big is the drive?

--A

[Fist and Faith]

Most programs will show up there. You can also see installed programs in CCleaners "Uninstall" section, and uninstall from there.

I wasn't aware of that. Unfortunately, it only shows the same programs that Control Panel's uninstaller does.

Make sure the cleaner is deleting all your temp files and your internet cache and history etc. And emptying the recycle bin.

Yeah, it's doing all that.

How big is the drive?

28.6 GB. At the moment, it says .98 GB free. For months, it's been gradually lowering. It's been as low as 200 MB free. We do all the cleaning we can, defrag it just for the heck of it, and turn it off. Sometimes there's some improvement when we turn it back on, sometimes not. Still hanging in!


I've done searches for jpg's, gif's, and wmv's. There are only a couple jpg's on the machine. Several other jpg's and gif's show up on the list, but they don't open. As though they aren't there, even though they still show up on the list? But clicking on a gif in the search results gives info in the bottom left of the screen saying it's, for example, 149 KB. But I can't open it. And they're in folders that I can't find. C:\Users\Eric.RnRPrati-PC\AppData... But there isn't an AppData in C:\Users\Eric.RnRPrati-PC.

[I'm Murrin]

Firstly, make sure your account has administrator level access when you're doing the cleanups.

The reason you can't find those fodlers, by the way, is because you have "show hidden files and fodlers" turned off. (Folder options, in among all the View checkboxes.)

Also, 30GB is pretty small. Just updating your software regularly is going to be increasing the space needed for programs, as more advanced software does take up more space.

[Fist and Faith]

Firstly, make sure your account has administrator level access when you're doing the cleanups.

Uh... (Please refer to the title of this thread.) I assume I am. If not, then nobody is. I made a signin for the kids, so I could put some parental blocks on it. But there's only mine and theirs.

The reason you can't find those fodlers, by the way, is because you have "show hidden files and fodlers" turned off. (Folder options, in among all the View checkboxes.)

The View only lets me choose the size of the icons, or whether or not to show the paths to the items found. (Please refer to the title of this thread.)

Also, 30GB is pretty small. Just updating your software regularly is going to be increasing the space needed for programs, as more advanced software does take up more space.

Now we're getting somewhere!


EDIT: I just deleted the kids account. Which gave me .4 GB. Better than nothing. There's a Guest account. There's no option for deleting that. But it's not there when I turn the computer on, either. Just mine.