[cpd2009]

I want to ask about my wifi router. Usually I disable the router security, but today I decided to re-enable the password again. My phone and my brother's phone reconnected to the router automatically.

Is that because both phones had once connected and saved the secured wi-fi in the past? I never change the password since the last time I enabled the security. If let's say a stranger's phone was connected to the unsecured wi-fi (and saved it), will his phone do the same as my phone or he'll be just disconnected and unable to connect without password?

In case anyone wonders, I went back and forth with enabling security because my laptop somehow cannot pick up the internet from the wi-fi if security is enabled.

In Android, I believe that it won't automatically connect to unsecured Wifi routers due to security reasons. It's actually a very bad idea to disable router security, and it's good that you turned it back on. If the router security is disabled, you can be at the mercy of piggybackers, people who either live nearby or drive by in their vehicles and browse the internet with your own hotspot. Piggybacking is not illegal in itself, but if one of these piggybackers were to do something illegal on the internet, the activity could be traced back to your router and you could face legal action even though you never performed the activity yourself.

Since your Wifi router is now secured, your phones consider the Wifi router a "trusted" hotspot, and thus, when the info is saved to the phone, it will automatically connect to your particular router each time it is in range. Windows and Mac OSX have a similar setup.

As for your laptop, we need some information to help diagnose the problem. We need the laptop model number, the Wifi model number (usually found with Device Manager, or a program like "Speccy"), and the Windows version. We also need to know how old it is. Depending on what type of security your router uses, it's possible your laptop might not support it. There are a few types of wifi security, mostly limited to WEP and WPA or WPA2.

[huckleberrypie]

As long as the passwords are the same, it would certainly re-connect once the devices remember a particular secure hotspot.

[cpd2009]

Well, I should have been more open minded about Win10. It really isn't that bad apart from the flat-looking UI. I upgraded Ruby, and she is still performing rather well for an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ from 2008. I also went ahead and upgraded Greta to Win10.

I been mulling over various upgrade options for Patsy, and I have decided to upgrade her to Win10 as well. Since she has Vista, a free upgrade is not available. I lost my other Win7 disc, and the only free Windows copies I have are XP and another copy of Vista. I will have to use my credit card to buy the upgrade. It's $119, and I should be able to pay it back in about two months with help from a part-time job. I hate having to use it, but I should have reconsidered buying that Sega CDX during my summer road trip. :/ It was hard to resist, being a retro gamer. I could sell it off to another collector though.... hmm.

As for other upgrades, I have a 500gb hard disk I can use to replace her current 160gb disk, and I shall re-install the GeForce 210 card. After talking with Blake about a suitable GPU for Steam games, I settled on a GeForce GTX 750. It's normally way out of my league, but Steam has some rather good games that appeal to me, but have more intense graphics than say Chuzzle or Zuma. I have also been driven by my recent addiction to Pinball sims, which naturally require a decent GPU to play alright, but a beefy card if you want max AA and ball reflections. I shall acquire it either through this years Christmas list, or by saving up my work money. I am not using a credit card for that.

In short, I should have been more open minded about Win10. I am still a bit critical over how MS is using Windows Update to push Win10, but Win10 in itself is far from bad. It's actually rather nice. If they could just reintroduce a way to color the window titlebars without resorting to third party tools, then it would be perfect. Microsoft Edge could use some work though. More on that later.

[huckleberrypie]

Palit sells an equivalent dual-fan variant of the 750/750ti as the StormX Dual. Given the rather enigmatic nature of the aforementioned company, it had me wondering if it's a shell division of PNY or something similar, as stuff under the PNY brand tends to be marketed as Palit parts here in Asia.

[huckleberrypie]

In other news, it sure is a pain in the rear when you have a doll with no identifying info, and yet there's a similar-looking doll that AG sold under the modern line, i.e. Molly McIntire and JLY 9. There are subtle differences namely in the hair, but on paper it's as if Pleasant Company took existing Molly SKUs and sold it as a generic modern doll.

Then again when they first started out, initial Samantha SKUs were actually rebadged Götz Romina dolls.

[cpd2009]

Well, Patsy has been refreshed with Windows 10, and the performance difference from Vista is quite noticeable. For an Intel E7400 from 2008, she probably has far better performance than the majority of laptops sold at Walmart. (most of those are low to mid range)

Now, my quick review of Microsoft Edge. It has promise. Web pages load up quickly, most of the time. There is some lag here and there, usually if the page has a lot of Flash-based ads. It also has a handy Reader feature that gives you the news article without all the ads or clutter. One major issue: Edge seems to forget cookies. I usually have the browser save my login info, or log me in automatically. That worked for only about a day until I was forced to sign back in for whatever reason.

Edge is alright, but it still needs some work in terms of speed and cookies. I moved on to Chrome for now.

[huckleberrypie]

Looks like it's pretty much on the same league as the E7400-based rig I had before. Had to update the BIOS as any Windows version later than 8 would complain about CMPXCHG16B as missing, despite the processor supporting it. It's a different story with early AMD64 chips though - they're basically locked out of installing 8.1 and up.

[cpd2009]

It has been awfully quiet here lately. Without David, it's hard to keep this place active.

Anyway, Dollar General had one of those AtGames portable Sega Genesis consoles for sale. Normally $40, it was reduced to $28. I already had an older version of the handheld, and I was going to play it a few days ago. Turns out a small piece of plastic broke on the Li-ion battery cover, and it won't stay on anymore. I never even abused the handheld or subjected it to rough treatment, AFAIK.

So, I went out and got the newer handheld. Only differences is that Mega Man and Street Fighter II games were swapped out for all three Genesis Mortal Kombat games, and the unit is White-on-gray colors. It's the same in all other aspects. The sound emulation hasn't even been improved. Ah well.

I'm just waiting now for the Menards Black Friday ad leak. Any day now.... I hope.

[Stella Grapes]

Dregs died in my arms on Wednesday. I am beyond heartbroken. I cry myself sick every night.

[cpd2009]

Dregs died in my arms on Wednesday. I am beyond heartbroken. I cry myself sick every night.

Sorry if I sound insensitive (I don't intend to be), but I didn't know you had a pet.