Posts by Michael Thomas6

Alright, thanks a ton!

Thanks; what about without the monitor (you know, if a potential buyer already has their own setup)?

Hey guys, I could really use some help figuring out what this rig is actually worth. Here’s the breakdown of the parts (copied straight from the receipt):

- Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-A55M-DS2, FM1
- CPU: AMD A6 3670K BOX FM1
- HDD: WD 500 GB SATA3 AAKX
- RAM: DDR3 4 GB Transcend 1333 MHz
- DVDRW LG 22x GH22NS70 black
- PSU: ZALMAN 450W ZM-450GS
- GPU: Sapphire HD7770 1GB GDDR5
- Case: Gigabyte GZ-X4 red-black

- Monitor: Asus VW220D

Maybe try this:
- hit print
- go to page setup
- head over to the "Sheet" tab
- just check that "gridlines" box

Has anyone here actually updated Chrome to the latest version in the last week or so? Might be worth checking if that’s where the glitch is hiding...

Honestly, this whole thing reminds me of what I went through maybe a year or two back. I wasn't just using Chrome for casual browsing—I was relying on it for work. And man, out of nowhere, my PC would just freeze up right in the middle of doing basically nothing. Everything seemed fine, except there was zero memory left. Who was hogging it all? Chrome. Every single forum was blowing up with people complaining about the same thing, and Google kept giving those canned "we're looking into it" responses. I eventually hit my limit, ditched Chrome, and switched over to Firefox. Honestly? Best move I ever made.

Anyway—just try Googling "google chrome memory leak" and see for yourself.

The currencies that are still legal tender (like USD, etc.) can be swapped out pretty much anywhere—banks, currency exchanges, whatever. From what I know, they’ll charge you a fee based on whatever rules that specific financial institution has in place. Exchange booths are usually more chill about it and might give you a bit of a "bulk discount"—you know, if you're swapping a massive stack of Euros, they might give you a better rate than the official one—but honestly, nobody's going to give you a break just because you're bringing in a mountain of loose change.

I have zero clue what those actual fees look like, but—just look them up online. Don't trust the people behind the counter because—trust me on this—they talk absolute nonsense sometimes. I remember taking a bunch of small change from my piggy bank to the bank once, and I thought I was being ridiculous, like I was trying to tap into a child's savings account or something. I'd heard that counting all that small change costs money (as a service fee, right?), but I got lucky because the branch wasn't busy, so they basically "looked the other way." Total fluke. Then, once I got home, I checked the bank's website and saw that they actually *do* charge a fee for counting coins, but apparently, it doesn't apply to coin jars. Makes zero sense.

The currencies that aren't used anymore (let's say US Dollars from back in the day, though that's not really how it works now) are probably impossible to exchange anywhere at this point since the grace period after the transition years has long since passed. *Maybe* you could try somewhere like the Federal Reserve (or whatever the central bank equivalent is over there), but let's be real—is a trip to DC even worth it for a handful of pocket change?

Benjamin King2, activation codes are tied to your hardware. Once you swap out components—like a new hard drive, a better CPU, a beefier GPU, whatever—that old code becomes useless and you’ve gotta hunt down a new one.

I managed to snag a new code once (check a few posts up, #5). But man, when we bought a totally new rig, the folks over at Markottel treated me so poorly I can still feel the sting. It was a few years back, so I don't remember the exact words from the lady I spoke with, but the whole thing boiled down to me thinking they were basically obligated to give me free activation codes for every single computer I might buy in the future. Long story short: I got zero help with the code.

Looking at the long game (you know, the money side of things), it feels like they actually lost more than I did. In theory, I would've bought the Teacher software for every grade level—so that's price times eight, right?—but instead, one kid used it for first grade (the other one barely touched it), and I haven't dropped a dime on the next seven editions.

Is it possible the scanning resolution is just set way too high? I was checking out the specs, and it says that if you're running at 600 x 1200 in color mode, you can only knock out "up to" 0.75 pages per minute.

If that’s the bottleneck, maybe I should just dial the resolution back down to something like 300 x 300?

Austin Hill6 said:Hey everyone.

I'm still getting my bearings here, so I have a few questions.

Can an authorization code contain up to two hyphens, effectively splitting the numbers into three distinct groups?

For instance, if someone writes an authorization code like this: 02 040512 1234 03

Would that first "02" actually be the payment model rather than part of the authorization code itself?

Nah, you can actually have up to 3 dashes—meaning four distinct "groups" of numbers (like in model 23). Check out this breakdown of the standard authorization number models.

Taking a screenshot is one way to do it (if I knew a better trick, I’d tell you, trust me)

So—you just pull up whatever map you're looking at, hit >. Then paste that junk into an image editor (using Paint on Windows works just fine), crop out the edges you don't want, and save the file.

If you're trying to grab a massive area without it looking like total pixelated garbage, you're gonna have to grab a bunch of separate shots and stitch them together later. Just make sure you leave enough overlap on each shot—like, plenty of redundancy—so it's actually possible to line them up right when you're merging them.

It’s honestly the easiest way—once you've picked out a theme, just hit "Open" instead of "Save." That basically "installs" the damn thing automatically.

So what’s the catch then? You've got a Mastercard sitting there gathering dust, you aren't even using it, yet you're still coughing up an annual fee? Feels a little bit like masochism to me.

Michael Richardson14 said:What are your thoughts on whether it makes more sense to pay for an annual AAA membership $67 or just grab a Zabka flyer? I’m debating if getting the flyer is worth it primarily for that specific service, since I really don't have much use for travel or home insurance.

Just so we're clear, HKA's membership isn't $67 monthly, it's an annual thing.

It’s not gonna happen.

That "16" code you see on the payment description? You don't type that in anywhere—that's definitely not how the payment model works.

The "Model" and the "Approval Reference Number" are just values you copy straight from your bill pay slip.

Look, if you mess up the model number (especially when it's part of that check digit in the reference number), the whole thing gets rejected. Bottom line: the combination of "model + reference number" has to be spot on.

Sometimes, though—and this happens more than it should—the people generating these bills totally screw up the reference number. If that happens, even if you're typing everything perfectly, it still fails. In those cases, just swap out the model from the slip for "00." And if there isn't even a reference number to begin with? Just use "99" as the model.

At the start of the movie, she isn't wearing them (obviously—since she hasn't even flown off to Oz yet, nor has she knocked out the witch whose shoes she eventually swipes). But, seeing as the first half of the film is in black and white, I’m betting those red designer heels are exactly what they're talking about.

Just tell them you’re going crazy from the heat and you might actually flatten someone if your doctor doesn't put you on bed rest for a week. Stress, exhaustion, workplace bullying—take your pick, whatever gets you out of there.

But seriously, would you rather just take some vacation days instead of calling in sick?

Alright, but—what are we talking about in absolute terms here? Like, what’s the actual damage for a typical Chicagoan on their water bill right now? Just looking for a baseline for comparison, you know?

shadowotter7 said:Like, as if I could’ve passed some disease onto her—which is total BS since I haven't even slept with anyone else besides her.

Exactly, man. It's just like driving on the interstate... you can be as careful as possible, but you're still at the mercy of some idiot flying through a red light.

So, I saw EPP on TV yesterday... they were claiming "93.5% of parents are satisfied with the Teacher." Seriously? How on earth did I manage to end up in that tiny group of six people who aren't happy?!

Those high percentages of happy parents and—more importantly—kids who supposedly used Teacher are just the result of some study that clearly didn't include me. Because I honestly don't know a single soul who’s actually satisfied with Teacher. From the start, you're dealing with an installation process that's basically impossible because the software is overcomplicated and riddled with bugs, not to mention the absolute nightmare of trying to reinstall it on a modified (or any) computer.

In theory, sure, it sounds great. But all that hype vanishes the second you see the look of pure disappointment on your kid's face when the thing that was supposed to be "fun learning help" turns out to be a total dud.

I’m not buying it. And I bet no other dad is going to either. But hey, we're peaceful people. One mom isn't—she actually wrote a formal protest letter and sent it straight to Markottel; I read it, and let me tell you, it does NOT sound pretty.

BTW, regarding that whole new activation code situation, it really is a joke. Here's how it goes (my own experience): during the school year, you buy a new computer. Installing Teacher, naturally, fails. You call Markottel, but nobody picks up because they either have insane business hours or the lines are constantly busy (probably because they're drowning in calls from angry parents). When you finally get through, they act like it's no big deal, but then they insist you email them a receipt proving you actually bought a new computer (so, it needs your full name, address, blah blah blah). Only after that, once you call them back and they manage to find the fax/email/whatever you sent, are they willing to give you a new activation code.

It's a total scam. For a pile of cash—and a pretty hefty one at that—you get more hassle than even Micro$oft would put you through (and we all know how much of a mess things are with pirated software here in the States).

Anyway, here is another topic on the subject.