The Pot Belly Stove

[phw115wvwx]

The winter solstice arrived at 6:12 AM EST just as I was fighting the cold wind to launch my balloon this morning.  The world is still here in one piece, which means this myth of the "end of the world" occurring today is:



Now, can everyone on Earth please stop being so obsessed about when the world is going to end and concentrate on the present to make the future better?  There's a lot of good we could do right now if we all worked together and focused our effort into defined goals.  The reality is that no one will ever know exactly when the world will end and how it will occur, so why worry about it when you only have one life to live for yourself!  When you understand how our universe works and see how much of it is so inhospitable to where life is simply impossible, you'll quickly realize how very lucky and special we are.

[Localonthe8s]

Gangnam Style has officially become the first YT video to hit a billion views..

PSY - GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일) M/V

[Jonathon]

Gangnam Style has officially become the first YT video to hit a billion views..
PSY - GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일) M/V

i'll be damned 

[TWCToday]

Greetings from Snowshoe, WV where we just got 12-16in of snow tonight and yesterday.

[phw115wvwx]

Greetings from Snowshoe, WV where we just got 12-16in of snow tonight and yesterday.

Hope you're enjoying seeing everything that I have witnessed personally as well.

[Localonthe8s]

My new computer has Windows 8 and I hate it. I find it more appropriate for a tablet or touch screen phone, not a laptop. I had to install vistart to get the classic start menu back. My question is why is the start menu so hard to find?
Also didn't 8 just come out a year or two after 7? I didn't see anything wrong with Windows 7 at all. It was very convenient to use as all the computers in my school's computer labs have them. If it's not broke don't fix it

[Donovan]

My new computer has Windows 8 and I hate it. I find it more appropriate for a tablet or touch screen phone, not a laptop. I had to install vistart to get the classic start menu back. My question is why is the start menu so hard to find?
Also didn't 8 just come out a year or two after 7? I didn't see anything wrong with Windows 7 at all. It was very convenient to use as all the computers in my school's computer labs have them. If it's not broke don't fix it

The start menu is in the bottom left corner, where it always has been. If you do the same function as you would with Windows 7 and just click there, it will appear. Just zoom over to that corner and click, it'll pop-up. Personally, I don't mind this issue as I've always just hit the key on the keyboard to open the menu.

[Localonthe8s]

My new computer has Windows 8 and I hate it. I find it more appropriate for a tablet or touch screen phone, not a laptop. I had to install vistart to get the classic start menu back. My question is why is the start menu so hard to find?
Also didn't 8 just come out a year or two after 7? I didn't see anything wrong with Windows 7 at all. It was very convenient to use as all the computers in my school's computer labs have them. If it's not broke don't fix it

The start menu is in the bottom left corner, where it always has been. If you do the same function as you would with Windows 7 and just click there, it will appear. Just zoom over to that corner and click, it'll pop-up. Personally, I don't mind this issue as I've always just hit the key on the keyboard to open the menu.

Yup, I know but it's just much easier for me to visually see the start menu rather than placing my cursor on the bottom right.

I also have another question, do you guys know of any online backup system I can use for my files? I have about ~1800 songs I want to transfer to the new computer? I also want to install my slingbox on the new computer but I lost the CD disc. Since I had it on an XP machine, do you think 8 will have any significant compatibility issues with me installing programs that were originally intended for use on XP?

[Zach]

There's Carbonite, but that costs money.

[Donovan]

If it's under 5GB, you can use Google drive and just download it. Or either get a large flash drive. You can usually find 16GB flash drives in Walmart or something for under $15 for a transfer. As for backup's, I don't really see the point if you used Google drive or something like that since it's always there on your computer and will sync pretty quickly when you make changes. I'd recommend trying it out, it's nice for Cloud storage. In terms of it backing up your files on it's own schedule, you don't have that luxury here.

[Localonthe8s]

Thanks, I'm gonna go to the mall tomorrow and buy an 8GB HD USB stick. I hope it won't take too long to back up my songs folder

[TWCToday]

My new computer has Windows 8 and I hate it. I find it more appropriate for a tablet or touch screen phone, not a laptop. I had to install vistart to get the classic start menu back. My question is why is the start menu so hard to find?
Also didn't 8 just come out a year or two after 7? I didn't see anything wrong with Windows 7 at all. It was very convenient to use as all the computers in my school's computer labs have them. If it's not broke don't fix it

Windows 7 was released in 2009 Vista 2007 and XP in 2001. Microsoft is increasing product release times in an attempt to keep an up to date and relevant product similar to Macs yearly update. Windows 8.5 is expected to be released next year. I would expect 9 will probably come out just another year after that. Windows XP works just fine so perhaps Microsoft should have stopped development and continue selling a 12 year old piece of software. 

I also have another question, do you guys know of any online backup system I can use for my files? I have about ~1800 songs I want to transfer to the new computer? I also want to install my slingbox on the new computer but I lost the CD disc. Since I had it on an XP machine, do you think 8 will have any significant compatibility issues with me installing programs that were originally intended for use on XP?

Skydrive is built right into Windows 8 and lets you access all of your files via web browser or through explorer on any Windows computer. It even works on Mac. You get 5gb free space just for having a Microsoft account and if you had signed up when it first came out, you'll be grandfathered in to 25gb of free space.

[toxictwister00]

Skydrive is built right into Windows 8 and lets you access all of your files via web browser or through explorer on any Windows computer. It even works on Mac. You get 5gb free space just for having a Microsoft account and if you had signed up when it first came out, you'll be grandfathered in to 25gb of free space.

That's what I use and get the same amount of free space, but on Windows 7 though.

[Donovan]

I find Skydrive to be the most inconvenient cloud service in Windows 8. It's only accessible from the metro app and you can't save things to it from your web browser. If it offers you the option and you save it, go look in your skydrive-it's not there. At least, this has been my experience with it.

[Zach]

I am now proud to say that I am a Windows 7 user now! I've had 7 on my laptop for 3 years now, but I mean for my desktop working environment, in which I've been an XP user with since 2008.