Oh no! More boring computer problems! Oh no!

xpost Sweet! I thought there was a way! OK, hopefully she'll get home soon.

"could not find server address. If your internet connection is up, this might be a problém with your name resolution service. please try again later"

Airport Extreme is the new version of Airport, and it's the same as 802.11g (from what I can tell). The Airport Extreme base station is $199 - 249 depending on whether you get the modem and antenna port; since you can get other 802.11g routers for as low as $100, you may want to check that shit out instead.

If you've got the basic version of Airport (ie no Extreme) then you probably have 802.11b on your notebook, so getting the Extreme or 11g version of the wireless router won't be all that important unless you're planning to upgrade your notebook down the road. Since cable and DSL connections are already slower than even the 802.11b (basic Airport) setup, you're not going to be gaining anything by overspending here. And getting an 802.11b router may be a bit cheaper than 11g...but probably not by much.

thanks, btw!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00007KDVJ/qid=1084399427/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl23/103-9923206-1101432?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005854B/qid=1084399475/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i2_xgl23/103-9923206-1101432?v=glance&s=electronics&n=507846

I saw a D-Link access point (b, not g) at my local supermarket for $40 (after rebate) or maybe it was $30?

The Internet <--> cable or DSL modem <--> optional: router <--> your computer

If you're plugging your computer directly into your modem, you don't have a router. If you have a box with multiple Ethernet ports on it between your modem and your computer, you probably have a router.

The new DSL/cable broadband sharing routers are great because it logs onto the net for you (especially if you have DSL connection that requires PPPoE authentication, because it means you don't have to use that dumb and unreliable software client that DSL providers stick you with) and then uses network address translation to change your IP #s in your inner network. This means that people can't waltz directly into your computer from the outside world, they have to hack a bit first (this one is especially true if you're on a cable modem connection, where a direct connection of your computer into your modem might well result in your computer showing up in the networks of other people plugged into cable modems in your neighborhood).

When I try and unpack dmg files of games and stuff, I get a failure message that says "invalid checksum". What does that mean?

Plus out of the box, 'It just works' functionality.

Sadly you've denied me the pleasure of giving you useless advice.

But the most troubling thing is that Zonealarm has alerted me that Explorer and WMPlayer is trying to access the internet, and once, some program called abetterinternet.com or somesuch tried to connect to the internet, too. I'll have to run adaware/spyware blaster, but what in heck is going on??

http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2003/11/21/maintenance.html

stop herrashing me

sorry, couldn't resest

So here's a weird one: the pitch of audio on my computer will suddenly drop for a split second and then come up, like a tape that got stretched out or if you put your finger on an LP and then let go. Happens with mp3s, CDs, DVDs. Never encountered this before.

Cannot connect to the internet on my desktop. All other devices fine. Problem happens with both wireless and ethernet connection. Troubleshooter either says unable to diagnose, or 'Your computer appears to be correctly configured but the device or resource (DNS server) is not responding. Have tried obtaining dns server automatically, and using google's dns, for both ipv4 and ipv6. Have done ipconfig /flushdns, /registerdns, /release, /renew. Have tried various other suggested fixes - turning off ipv6, checking power management hasn't turned off network adaptor, updating drivers, deleting and reinstalling network adaptor. Halp! Anyone? Anyone?

cripes,I might be reinstalling the OS at that point. First try a live CD or USB of some free Linux distribution? Boot up in that and see if you're online

Yeah that's a good next step, I guess that might indicate if it's OS or hardware related. Thx!

i need to use a windows program to update the firmware on a gadget over USB. i have macs. how do i do this?

virtualbox, right? can that see the host machine's USB bus? and is there an easy way to get an ultra minimal windows image to run in virtualbox. isn't windows basically free to try these days? i haven't used windows for 20 years.

My computer just completely conked out on me as I was watching a youtube video on how to play the guitar part from Solsbury Hill. Admittedly I shouldn't have been doing this as I have to teach in an hour and a half and I don't play the guitar, but still, I wouldn't have expected it to break my computer. Dang it.

I must in that case consider it good fortune that I got away with watching the video for Games Without Frontiers the other day.

xp Have you tried shocking the monkey?

Or taking a sledgehammer to it?

Don't give up...

Sorry if kidding around seems insensitve. Sudden conking out can be distressing or at least inconvenient.

No, it's fine. I mean, I'm not looking forward to having to spend a bunch of money getting it fixed, but I have a separate work computer, plus an older personal computer that still works okay, so I'm not hugely inconvenienced. Mostly I posted bc I thought it was funny.

I grieve for you

All of a sudden, in the blink of a system update, I seem to have lost audio drivers. Can hear nothing. Please send help!

While we're at it - does anyone else have a hard time getting your video to appear in Zoom calls? I assume something is wrong with my camera setting but am not sure how to address it.

Not sure about the second, but for the first, are you using Windows?

So I just got a new system, but I've kept my existing monitor which I've never had a problem with, and now after certain games I get a very slight intermittent flickering at the very top of the screen.

The monitor is running at 144 hz when it does this, locking it down to 60 seems to fix it but I don't want to lose out on faster frame rates. Why would it be doing this? Any ideas. Googling just produces 'oh update drivers' which I already have.

Windows is running it at 143hz which is the closest option for 144. Graphics card is a 3070ti and seems to be fine with everything. Using other monitors that only use 60 limit is fine too.

Can you set the refresh rate to exactly 144Hz in Advanced display settings?

nah it won't go above 143. I read that that is okay though, so don't think it's that. It's weird when it happens, only every now and again but seems to occur on this one game, then when i exit it still happens around windows.

Further reading, someone mentioned G-sync should be enabled. Well it was enabled for full screen but not for windowed apps. So I've now clicked that, first glance seems to have stopped. But i'm tired and going to bed now so will revisit tomorrow.

The 143/144 thing seems culprit -ish. Also what is g sync

one thing i did learn in all this, hdmi cable will only go up to 100 hz but dp cable gives me the full 144

xp, it's nvidia's own v-sync in short. So there might be conflicts if ingame vsync enable etc. I'm going to delve further tomorrow.

does the monitor do 120?

Can anyone help with a Firefox on Android problem?
I updated Firefox yesterday and today my Wordle webpage is a blank white screen. Opening on private browser tab looks normal, but I'd rather not lose my stats.
Have googled and found this https://www.reddit.com/r/wordle/comments/sqqkr7/wordle_glitch_is_only_giving_me_a_blank/ but on my phone I can only seem to "delete all cookies and site data" for the site I'm on i.e. NYTimes, which I assume will delete my stats?

Anyone know any way I can delete individual cookies or any other way of getting the Wordle back to normal without deleting my history? It's not the end of the wordl (ha) if I have to but would rather not if there's a way round it?

(I don't have a NY Times subscription)