The Dragon's Realm

Bloated HP Printer Drivers and how I got around them...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 03:22:00 +0000

I bought a HP DeskJet 6980 today, and I was impressed with the hardware side of it. Networkable and noted for good ink mileage I thought I did well until I went to install the printer driver. The minimum install was over 250mb with no choice in the matter. It installed a bunch of apps I didn't want, kept attempting to phone home, enroll me in marketing feedback schemes and insisted on starting a bunch of things on windows startup that I couldn't turn off. I was peeved about this, and upon checking HP's website discovered they had a minimal driver package for this model but it only supported the USB connection not networking which is what I wanted to use. I uninstalled everything and reinstalled the driver for it manually of course as HP's install cd wouldn't cooperate with me. Here is how I did it under WinXP: Going into add remove printers in control panel and attempting to install the printer from the network telling the wizard it was a network printer proved fruitless. This printer although networkable is not engineered properly and does not broadcast itself on the network as a printer device. I confirmed the printer had the proper network connectivity, its name would resolve and that no relevant port was blocked and then re ran the add printer wizard and instead selected local printer, unchecked automatically detect and install my plug and play printer, clicked next and selected create new port and chose "standard TCP/IP port" then clicked past the warning about making sure the printer was properly networked and turned on (it was) and then on the next dialog entered the ip address I had already statically assigned to the printer (through its http interface) gave the port a relevant name (I used the network name I had assigned to the printer however you can use whatever you want. I left the always print to this device even if the ip changes unchecked as I am using a static ip for this printer (printers on a network should always be assigned static ips and properly reserved in whatever DHCP or name service scheme you use (router, firewall etc). On the next screen I clicked finish and windows proceeded to install the new port wherein afterwards presented me with a dialog asking to install the printer software. I clicked on have disk, inserted the HP setup disk that came with the printer (cancelled its autorun attempt) and then clicked next. Windows searched the dick and found the raw driver files it needed and after presenting me with another dialog confirming which printer driver I wanted to use (therewas 4 separate instances of the same driver scattered on the cd, I chose the first one in the list and completed the wizard. It installed the printer software, asked me if I wanted to print a test page which I did and wouldn't you know the printer works perfectly and without all the unwanted bloat. I hope this will help others out there who have bought a new printer and then are dismayed at what is claimed you have to install to make it work. The truth is you don't. I'm sure the above procedure will work with other types of modern printers, even multifunction printers, although some of their functionality could be reduced without at least some of the manufacturers extra software. Your mileage may vary, but even with a local printer ie: usb you can get around the bloat with a similar procedure as above.
Like most annoyances in life if you sit down and think about it there is usually always a way around them.

New Facebook account

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 02:04:00 +0000

Facebook me!
I am NOT a big fan of social networking sites however I did create a facebook account. You can see it here -->

Script Errors in TAXWIZ by Intuit Canada

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 00:55:00 +0000

Got yourself a copy of TaxWiz and now are getting script errors when trying to fill out forms? Annoying isn't it? meh :(
Well I did, and have a document on how to solve it. Its posted over in the library, get it here.
Not a very good way to design software in my opinion. Many people including me have Internet Explorers security cranked all the way up and locked down and out and use a third party browser (firefox in my case) because of the lack of content control and security issues inherent with using Internet Explorer.

What the Heck is up with this?

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 02:27:00 +0000

Found this on an Elder Scrolls board today, it appears to be a screen capture from the new Oblivion game, and somone had waaaay too much time on their hands with what appears to be a summon watermelon spell. Some people make me wonder...

I've found a way to stop hotlinking

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 15:29:00 +0000

I've found a way to stop people from hotlinking my images and sapping my bandwidth, using .htaccess
Not the greatest solution but it will do for now. Information on using .htaccess can be found in the library.
Now I can upload the rest of the Whitby Psyche pics as well as their stories.

Same Aquarium 4 Months Later

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 00:57:00 +0000

The Mollies have spawned and I have approximately 15 young ones swimming around. One pair of guppies died, but everyone else is doing well. I do partial water changes every week cause the tank is slightly overpopulated however it is also very densely planted with Hygrophila Polysperma and Vallisneria. It is well lit and has a filter running that is way bigger then normally used for that size of tank and I am carefull not to overfeed the fish and this population does very well. No fish can be seen in this picture however they are all in there I count them everyday. The dense aquatic vegatation provides ample hiding places for everyone.

My Fish Tank First Set Up

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 00:37:00 +0000

My 10 gallon fish tank freshly set up, did this in January (06) It is home to a pair of Sunset SailFin Mollies, 1 Plecostomus (Spotted), 1 Chinese Algae Eater, 1 Armored Catfish (Corydoras) and 2 pairs of fancy guppies.

Cat in a Box

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 03:15:00 +0000

My cats love to get into the weirdest places. Here is the White Cat chilling inside an empty carton. I kicked her out of it after I took this though cause I didn't think the plastic was a good idea :

The Canadian SnowBirds

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 03:12:00 +0000

Took this last summer from my balconey during a flyover by the Canadian SnowBirds who were in town practicing for an upcoming airshow.

The Last of the Whitby Psyche Pics.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 01:04:00 +0000

I've posted the last of the Whity Psyche pics that I took before they demolished the buildings last fall. They are over in the gallery. I've only posted a few for now untill I can implement something to stop linking abuse.

Cats, annoying blogger publisher issues and broken fonts.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 00:30:00 +0000

Testing changes I made to my blog, to make it easier to post from anywhere. Pic storage was an issue, stupid blogger publisher would try to upload images to a directory that didn't exist. Sifting through the blogger help I discovered that it uploads to uploaded_images/ within the main blog directory. They could of told me that somwhere in the upload images dialog meh. Also the font tool sucks, font changes affect the whole paragraph, not just highlighted text :( Stupid thing still will not render pics properly. They will upload to where they are supposed to go but show up as an empty clickable box. ffs :( I have to upload them as files, as the html is uses when I try to upload them as images is all messed up with invalid urls and errors. (http://not-a-real-namespace/http://not-a-real-namespace/http://not-a-real-namespace
/http://not-a-real-namesp...) this is the rubbish it places in the post editor and the final result is an empty image box that when clicked redirects me to another users blog. wtf? Uploading and linking by hand works, bit I wanted the blogger post editor to do it, so that posting would be easier.

These are my two cats, the white one is the "White Cat" and the black one is "Phish" cause she likes water, which is highly unusualy for cats.

High Gasoline Prices? Conspiracy Theorys...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 20:52:00 +0000

What the sam hell does rising crude oil prices and Iran’s nuclear ambitions have to do with the rising cost of gasoline at the pumps. Just another excuse to make money by gouging consumers is what I see. "Analysts say oil prices are likely to climb even higher in the weeks ahead as worries grow about how international pressure on Iran, OPEC’s No. 2 oil producer, will affect its crude output. Rebel disruptions of oil production in Nigeria, the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports, also pose a risk to supply." (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12400801/)

LavaSoft Gone Corrupt??

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 03:25:00 +0000

I log onto my favorite newsgroups today and what to my wondering eyes appear is a thread with multiple links to reports that LavaSoft (makers of AdAware a trusted antispyware program) has quietly removed detection for WhenU which is a well known abusive spyware/malware threat. No one was notified and no one knew about it untill the Eric L. Howes from spywareinfo.com found it. Questions regarding this dasterdly deed to their msg boards as of this post have been ignored and deleted. www.spywareinfo.com does alot of spyware application testing over there and its certainly worth a look if you are new to fighting malware threats to your computer. There is a lot of bullshit rogue spyware apps out there and this site does a good job of listing them and which ones are usefull and which ones you need to avoid like the plague. This finding regarding LavaSoft really makes me wonder who you can really trust when it comes to fighting the scourge of the modern age called marketing. I am going to investigate some of the other spyware/malware tools that I use and see if there is any issues with them.
Dave
Links to articles regarding the above news;
Don't Drink the WhenU Kool-Aid
http://netrn.net/spywareblog/archives/2005/02/13/dont-drink-the-whenu-kool-aid/

Leading Antispyware Vendors Quietly Drop WhenU Detection
http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/spyware/whenu_detection_dropped.php

ASW Vendors in La-La Land
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,12665642~mode=flat

Everyone has one of these things now...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 15 Dec 2004 03:47:00 +0000

What happened to the days where html was just for nerds, and you had to actually know html in order to publish a web site. Now it seems that any weenie can put up anything they want, without having any skills in that regard whatever :(. Oh well sign of the times I guess, just like the spammers.
Tails

Another adventure at Whitby Psyche

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 21 Nov 2004 02:02:00 +0000

Again we decided to do some exploring at the old abandoned Whitby Psych buildings, we got some great pictures and had alot of fun. I don't believe in ghosts but after getting home and downloading the pictures we noticed some really odd "orbs" just floating there in several of them. Really odd. You can see these pics in the gallery, as well as some of the others we took.
We explored several of the tunnels and some of the buildings we had never been in before. All of our flashlights died except my trusty 30$ garrety. A reliable flashlight is a must when going nto potentially unsafe places like that. We want to see as much of it as we can before they demo the buildings to develop the land. The Ontario ghost seekers has some stuff on their page about supposed hauntings there but I don't think they really know much, plus they say they don't want to hear anything about anyone's findings which I find odd, I could show them a few things I have discovered out there I am sure they might like to see. Contact me if your interested.

Heres my bud Trevor inside some sort of isolation room with a concave observation bubble in the door. The room still has padding and a bed.

Check out the gallery for the rest of the pics.

Black Box Voting: Ballot - Tampering in the 21st Century

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 13 Nov 2004 03:15:00 +0000

Black Box Voting: Ballot - Tampering in the 21st Century

Ballot tampering??? More information regarding my previous post below.

Tails

American Presidential Election Rigged?? It would seem that people think that it was...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 13 Nov 2004 03:01:00 +0000

sucka pants is all shiny and new, like cheap rims.: "11.6.2004
caring is sharing. . .

below is a take on the election/post-election from someone that is/was definitely less politically opinionated than i am. and that's what makes what he has to say more interesting. if even your average non-political joe smells something rotten here, it's gotta be pretty bad. and on a side note, a lot of the 'stories' i'd been hearing about 'voting problems' are actually starting to surface in the mainstream news (see blake's #2). . . guess we're not always paranoid afterall.

and on his #5, i heard a personal story from someone this happened to in austin, TX.

***************************************"

Of course it was rigged, just like the last one with the Florida debacle, problem is Americans are too disillusioned to realize when they have been bamboozled. They have had their rights and freedoms squandered slowly for years now and still they do nothing.

Tails

And Really Bad Eggs...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 13 Nov 2004 02:25:00 +0000

And Really Bad Eggs: "'Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life For Me)' Song Lyrics
Lyrics by Xavier Atencio and music by George Bruns

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, and loot,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We extort, we pilfer, we filch, and sack,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Maraud and embezzle, and even high-jack,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We kindle and char, inflame and ignite,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.
We burn up the city, we're really a fright,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We're rascals, scoundrels, villians, and knaves,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
We're devils and black sheep, really bad eggs,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.
We're beggars and blighters, ne'er-do-well cads,
Drink up, me 'earties, yo ho.
Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads,
Drink up me 'earties, yo ho."

Something I went looking for and found after watching Pirates of the Caribbean again for the fifty millionth time :D
Now you know the words too.

Remembrance Day November 11, 2004

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 11 Nov 2004 12:37:00 +0000

Remembrance Day: "
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
- John McCrae "

------------------------------------

Canada's military casualties marked by Remembrance Day:

Boer War:
Served - 7,400.
Died - 224.
Wounded - 252.
First World War:
Served - 626,000.
Died - 61,663.
Wounded - 174,623.
Second World War:
Served - 1.1 million.
Died - 42,042.
Wounded - 54,414.
Korea:
Served - 26,000.
Died - 516.
Wounded - 1,567.
Peacekeeping and other overseas missions:
Served - 125,000-plus since 1950.
Died - 116.
Wounded - undetermined.
Afghanistan and Arabian Gulf region:
Served or currently serving - 6,000.
Died - 7.
Wounded - 14.
(Source: Department of National Defence, Canadian War Museum)

Lest We Forget

Idiot drivers, shopping basket thieves and selfish people...

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 09 Nov 2004 21:40:00 +0000

Three topics that have the ability to spoil an otherwise normal day, first I almost get killed by some moron in a white suv that pulled out in front of me, and with kids on board too! If that isn't a model of moronic stupidity then I don't know what is. The government spends billions every year trying to ease traffic congestion in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) with studies, road widening and complex traffic controls. For any one reading this who has the responsibility of fighting this problem, I have a very simple solution; start taking away the driving privileges of these irresponsible morons on the road and you will have gone a long way to correcting our traffic problems. I have little doubt that if the number of irresponsible drivers were reduced by half then most of the traffic nightmares we currently endure would be a thing of the past, and with the added revenue from fines that money could be used to fund any required changes to our road infastructure that would still be needed. Its so simple it isn't funny, makes me wonder why things are still like they are.
Secondly I stop off at the no frills across the street from where I live to pick up some bread and cream for my supper and tea, and upon entering the store the small red baskets that are provided for customers who only want to pick up a few items are no where to be found. Enquiring the reason from a clerk I was informed that customers swipe them so there isn't but a few of them left. (these baskets belong to the shop, you return them once you pay for your items and they go back into a pile for others to use) So everyone now who wants to make a quick stop to grab a few things for their supper or to fulfill a request by their spouse is now forced to either carry the desired goods staggering in your arms to the cash, or return outside for a shopping cart, which is a royal pain because you wouldn't of entered the store in the first place without one if you were actually planning on buying enough to need one. It really baffles me the stupidity of people that do that, selfishness and greed and sheer plain stupidity are the ingredients for this problem. A stout club is a good solution.
Thirdly I enter my building, which is a highrise tower, and calling for the lift I find it full of fat ass people who are too lazy to wait for a lift traveling up, they have to board and fill the one going down, so the people waiting in the parking garage lobbys (the floors below the lobby) are forced to wait again (often several cars later) for an empty car to finally board the damn thing and get up to their apartment. Stupid lazy ignorant people again...I really am starting to think that Toronto takes the cake for assholes in all of Canada, a bunch of brainwashed morons all trying to take from whoever they can, while caught in a endless urban rat race. Don't get me wrong, there are alot of really nice people in these parts too, but it seems that they are swiftly becoming a minority... If you don't think so, then just attend a local mall anywhere in the GTA around Christmas time and you will see.
Tails

Check out my pumpkin!

noreply@blogger.com (BRA) — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 23:51:00 +0000

Well Tails1, you wanted to see my sweet ass pumpkin? There you have it!

More Whitby Psyche

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 18:08:00 +0000

More pics from Whitby Psyche, I have put the rest up in the gallery.

Whitby Psyche

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 07:30:00 +0000

Went on another of our many adventures to Whitby Psyche again, had a blast with building 19. Got some pictures and some more work done locking the building down so no one can get in then we chilled in one of the rooms that has a fireplace and built a fire to keep warm. Interesting experience that place everytime. Cops showed up and some people got chased out but we stayed inside and didn't get caught. Good thing as we actually do whoever owns the place a favour by boarding up the building so no one can get inside again.

Four of my friends who was with me tonight, from left to right is Kyle then Justin then Trevor and finally Mr Havoc himself Jim (or sometimes referred to as Mr Pink) This pic is from one of the many rooms of one of the many abandoned buildins at the old Whitby Psyche.

The truth is out there

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 06 Nov 2004 06:38:00 +0000

The truth is out there: "Thursday, May 09, 2002
Was trying to edit the HTML for this to add some links but i'm absolutely useless when it comes to that, so i'll forget about it for tonight.

posted by Havoc at 11:14 PM"

Maby reducing your ganja intake would help??? But don't forgot about it forever.

The truth is out there

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 06 Nov 2004 06:31:00 +0000

The truth is out there

Look at this blog....I don't know about those colors, and the last post???

Meh

Tails