Whats the coolest thing you can do with your computer?

I just got a new laptop. A HP Pavilion G7 - 450 US bucks. Windows 8, 17.3 in monitor, 8 gigs of ram, quad core AMD A8 processor and has an ATI Radeon HD 7640G discrete graphics with 512 dedicated video memory But uses up to 4 gigabytes of shared system ram for more video power and a 500 GB hard drive. It's my new gaming rig. Plays FarCry 3 flawlessly on high settings and good framerate - and can multitask with video editing and having 300 tabs open in Firefox. It's the most powerful PC I ever had.

I am always looking for new cool apps. I used to be a fan of Seti@Home and helped them search for aliens. I tinker with my system and change the looks and functionality. I use apps that help me find wireless hot spots so I can connect to the internet for free on the go. Point is, I wanna make my PC do some really cool useful stuff. ( I can make it run Apple's/Mac's Snow Leopard or use another OS like Linux but that's another story)

I'd like to hear your ideas on the coolest useful stuff you can make a PC do.

I can open the start menu because I don't have Windows 8.

I can see images from space, see how my business is doing while at home, make awesome art, get any information I want, get any music or video I want, speak to people all over the planet via messages that go into space and back again, store all my photo albums and documents, do all sorts of official state business as a citizen from the comfort of my home, entertain my self with many games, modify said games to my liking and my preferences adding elements and enhancing others, operate devices from a distance, and many more things I just don´t want to list.

Originally posted by SpearMint
I can open the start menu because I don't have Windows 8.

I can open the start menu too and Never have to see that ugly Metro screen. I have made my Windows 8 operate just like Windows 7. It was the very first thing I did because I hated the Win 8 Metro screen.

You do this by using a 3rd party app called classic shell. Classic Shell takes you directly to the desktop on startup. Classic Shell gives you back your missing start button with full functionality ! I also let the system auto logon which you have to set in system settings. Since Win 8 is really Win 7 under the hood with some added and tweaked features, I don't mind it so much now. It's so much like Win 7 I don't notice a difference.

I also heavily tweak the processes and services and disable 3/4's of all the Microsoft services I dont need to make the PC run faster with more power left for the things I want. I use a program called Pserv version 2.7 for this but this requires that you study all processes and services so you know which ones you can safely disable. This takes a few days.

classicshell.sourceforge.net...

How to auto logon - www.eightforums.com...

I have my pc rigged up to the coffee maker so I get it to make me coffee in the morning.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


Mine can crash at any given second and give me the dreaded 'blue screen'.

Good times.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


I use Classic Shell even on Windows 7 because it's much more customizable and looks great. However I was under the impression that Windows 8 could easily be set to use the "old style" desktop by changing a few simple settings. If they have actually made it so that it requires a 3rd party app just to do that, well then you be certain I will never be getting that piece of boxy crap.

Originally posted by zedVSzardoz
I can see images from space, see how my business is doing while at home, make awesome art, get any information I want, get any music or video I want, speak to people all over the planet via messages that go into space and back again, store all my photo albums and documents, do all sorts of official state business as a citizen from the comfort of my home, entertain my self with many games, modify said games to my liking and my preferences adding elements and enhancing others, operate devices from a distance, and many more things I just don´t want to list.

Thanks for the answer, but I get that. Thats all normal stuff most people do every day. I have been into computers since before PC's existed. I'm looking for the odd interesting stuff thats not so well over done.

Virtual Assistance Denise comes to mind but I cant afford her yet. Check her out. guile3d.com...
She's the most beautiful and smartest Artificial Intelligence built into any avatar you can get on your PC to date. She can learn and do almost anything you ask her to PC wise via voice commands or typing in a console.

Originally posted by ChaoticOrder
reply to post by JohnPhoenix

 

I use Classic Shell even on Windows 7 because it's much more customizable and looks great. However I was under the impression that Windows 8 could easily be set to use the "old style" desktop by changing a few simple settings. If they have actually made it so that it requires a 3rd party app just to do that, well then you be certain I will never be getting that piece of boxy crap.

There was a work around in the consumer preview version that people exploited but it's gone in the final retail version which is what I have. It wasn't my first choice but it came with my laptop.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


Mock up a letter from Santa, so I can change the name of the Cabbage Patch kid I cam giving my daughter for christmas.

I can find answers, root around in obscure texts, go back or forward in time, travel the world, share it all with a friend, with no risks to my physical body. I can visit places I will never see in real life, museums containing great art, history. The only limit is my imagination.

Originally posted by purplemer
I have my pc rigged up to the coffee maker so I get it to make me coffee in the morning.

Now that Is useful. Had a friend that used X-10 technology to use his PC to control lights in the house. I may have to look into it as well as hooking that up to the Virtual Assistant Denise -

Imagine like on star trek I could say to the computer, " Denise, turn down the lights to 50 % illumination and make me a nice cup of tea, Earl Grey, hot"

Denise, " Would you like one lump or two? I'll remember for next time - Processing. tea ready in 3 minutes."

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


oh well then I guess spoken commands. I love star trek and one of my set ups was entirely touch screen Lcars, Lcars x32....and while it had some voice commands built into it, Lcars X32 that is, I used another speech program in tandem with it and set up all the sounds and voice commands to sound and respond like the TNG star trek computer. Really went out of my way there, and it was actually more comfortable to use.

I incorporated all the start trek flash I could for various tasks, like a sensor scan for virus scans, red alert for detection, ect. and other such little details, for EVERYTHING.

It was a damn movie prop by the time I was done. Looked GREAT and worked just as well.

Then I got married and my wife found it annoying, so back to no frills windows...lol

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix

Originally posted by SpearMint
I can open the start menu because I don't have Windows 8.

I can open the start menu too and Never have to see that ugly Metro screen. I have made my Windows 8 operate just like Windows 7. It was the very first thing I did because I hated the Win 8 Metro screen.

You do this by using a 3rd party app called classic shell. Classic Shell takes you directly to the desktop on startup. I also let the system auto logon which you have to set in system settings. Since Win 8 is really Win 7 under the hood with some added and tweaked features, I don't mind it so much now. It's so much like Win 7 I don't notice a difference.

I also heavily tweak the processes and services and disable 3/4's of all the Microsoft services I dont need to make the PC run faster with more power left for the things I want. I use a program called Pserv version 2.7 for this but this requires that you study all processes and services so you know which ones you can safely disable. This takes a few days.

classicshell.sourceforge.net...

How to auto logon - www.eightforums.com...

Ok good. I hate the metro thing, it's like they tried too hard to make it look cool and be very user friendly.

The best OS would be one designed by Google, like Chrome OS but an actual fully functioning OS. Chrome OS looks nice but it doesn't do much.

reply to post by zedVSzardoz


I didn't know about Lcarsx32. I used to use Lcars Terminal for windows XP. I'll check it out. Hopefully it will work with Windows 8.

reply to post by SpearMint


I saw at Best Buy they have Google Chrome laptops now.. I didn't look too hard at them as they were little more than netbooks.

Originally posted by JohnPhoenix
reply to post by SpearMint

 

I saw at Best Buy they have Google Chrome laptops now.. I didn't look too hard at them as they were little more than netbooks.

Yeah that's basically what they are, they run chrome and Google apps. Pretty good considering the price.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


yeah it does work with vista, win7, and 8. I use the stable release although you can use the weekly build as well to see how its developing. The pre-alpha is good too.

It is really well made, and is open source. There are all sorts of add-ons that people have made for it that are cool too. It has a great community of developers that really help with any issue you might have. The download site has a dedicated forum as well where you can chat them up..., ect.


It can be a stand alone app or a shell replacement, easy toggle for either.

EDIT:
you can get Lcars terminal manager to work with newer windows. You need to create a my documents folder and drop it into C: drive, and run in compatibility mode for XP, service pack 1.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix

The coolest thing I do with my computer is to Skype with my husband. He is away a lot due to his job and it is wonderful to actually see each other every day instead of only talking or e-mailing. Our grandchild gets to see her Pawpaw and they sing songs together, he reads stories to her and they make silly faces at each other. There is nothing on my computer that I treasure more!

The coolest thing I can make my HP G6 Laptop do...is log off.

(Dont forget...the real world is OUT THERE>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>)