jimnms wrote on Dec 23, 2012, 02:11:

Creston wrote on Dec 22, 2012, 03:06:

jimnms wrote on Dec 21, 2012, 19:20:
I drove to a McDonald's and sat in the parking lot using their free wifi to check Steam.

...........

You're aware that said wifi connection is unsecured, and thus if there's a single guy sniffing that traffic, he is likely to get your steam login information, right?

Don't EVER log in to anything over an unsecured wifi connection. Most of the stuff you log in to over the net is actually unsecured, so anyone sniffing your traffic can you grab your password at will.

The hackers' conference always has a free wifi up for people, and then they post the usernames and passwords of anyone who uses it on a huge screen for all to see. Not to be dicks, but as a warning that using unsecured wifi is a Grade A, 100% security risk.

Didn't mean for this to sound quite like such a lecture, but be very very careful about using free wifi...

Creston

I didn't log in to Steam, I checked the store page in a browser. Even though it's un-secured wifi, Steam uses SSL to log in and for purchases.

Creston wrote on Dec 22, 2012, 03:06:

jimnms wrote on Dec 21, 2012, 19:20:
I drove to a McDonald's and sat in the parking lot using their free wifi to check Steam.

...........

You're aware that said wifi connection is unsecured, and thus if there's a single guy sniffing that traffic, he is likely to get your steam login information, right?

Don't EVER log in to anything over an unsecured wifi connection. Most of the stuff you log in to over the net is actually unsecured, so anyone sniffing your traffic can you grab your password at will.

The hackers' conference always has a free wifi up for people, and then they post the usernames and passwords of anyone who uses it on a huge screen for all to see. Not to be dicks, but as a warning that using unsecured wifi is a Grade A, 100% security risk.

Didn't mean for this to sound quite like such a lecture, but be very very careful about using free wifi...

Creston

The Half Elf wrote on Dec 22, 2012, 00:35:
Formatted my system from Win 7 64 to Win 7 32bit, and having all sorts of problems with games I never had issues with. Skyrim (no mods) and Rage seem to be the big contenders. Defrag'd Scandisked, latest vid drivers, older vid drivers, checked Steam integrity.
Anyone think of anything I might be missing?

mag wrote on Dec 21, 2012, 14:43:
Per Wikipedia:

There is no clear evidence that the classic Maya were aware of precession. Some Maya scholars, such as Barbara MacLeod,[41] Michael Grofe,[88] Eva Hunt, Gordon Brotherston, and Anthony Aveni,[89] have suggested that some Mayan holy dates were timed to precessional cycles, but scholarly opinion on the subject remains divided.[28] There is also little evidence, archaeological or historical, that the Maya placed any importance on solstices or equinoxes.[28][90] It is possible that only the earliest among Mesoamericans observed solstices,[91] but this is also a disputed issue among Mayanists.[28][90] There is also no evidence that the classic Maya attached any importance to the Milky Way; there is no glyph in their writing system to represent it, and no astronomical or chronological table tied to it.[92]

I drove to a McDonald's and sat in the parking lot using their free wifi to check Steam.

Even with 4 gigs of ram something about the 32bit doesn't like to use all of it and was causing issues with Skyrim and Rage.

jimnms wrote on Dec 21, 2012, 19:20:
I drove to a McDonald's and sat in the parking lot using their free wifi to check Steam.

The Half Elf wrote on Dec 22, 2012, 00:35:
Formatted my system from Win 7 64 to Win 7 32bit, and having all sorts of problems with games I never had issues with. Skyrim (no mods) and Rage seem to be the big contenders. Defrag'd Scandisked, latest vid drivers, older vid drivers, checked Steam integrity.
Anyone think of anything I might be missing?

The Half Elf wrote on Dec 22, 2012, 00:35:
Formatted my system from Win 7 64 to Win 7 32bit, and having all sorts of problems with games I never had issues with. Skyrim (no mods) and Rage seem to be the big contenders. Defrag'd Scandisked, latest vid drivers, older vid drivers, checked Steam integrity.
Anyone think of anything I might be missing?

Formatted my system from Win 7 64 to Win 7 32bit, and having all sorts of problems with games I never had issues with.

PHJF wrote on Dec 21, 2012, 13:46:
Man, somebody should have warned me of the pitfalls in losing a ton of weight. Virtually everything I own has become comically oversized. Well, at least my shoes still fit.

jimnms wrote on Dec 21, 2012, 19:20:
I thought the world was over this morning when I woke up and my internet connection was out. I couldn't check Steam's store page, so I grabbed my netbook and left home early. I saw a work truck from the cable co. down the street from my house, so I figured they'd have it back on by the time I got home. I drove to a McDonald's and sat in the parking lot using their free wifi to check Steam. I didn't miss anything and there was over 4 hours until the next set of flash deals rolled over.

When I got home this evening it was still out. I called the cable co. and they said they were aware of the problem and crews were in the area working on it. I ate a snack and watched something that was recorded. I was about to pack up my netbook and head back to McDonalds when a few minutes ago when it finally came back up. It must have been something serious for it to be out so long.

Around this same time (Steam winter sale) the last two years my connection was constantly cutting off and on several times a day. I'm wondering if my ISP is doing this on purpose.

Cutter wrote on Dec 21, 2012, 11:32:
I just thought it was sort of weird to have it on the same day as the winter solstice. I was really looking forward to surviving it and getting my Fallout/Mad Max on and referring to it as "the before time...in the long, long ago."