A few Steam client versions prior to the 4/29/2016 build, I began receiving the following error when attempting to start Garry's Mod (aka GMod):
Steam reports it is still running even though I had cleanly exited via GMod's interface:
Following the Steam support site link got me nowhere, and googling revealed this bug has occurred in the past more than once (perhaps Valve needs to do better at regression testing?), with no solutions that jumped out. I did discover though that ending the Steam.exe process tree in Task Manager, and then deleting some cached files in Steam's appcache folder, seems to at least work around the problem.
Manually this is a bit of a pain, but there is a way to automate this particular workaround which involves creating a batch file to run GMod instead of using the default shortcut Steam creates for it. Here's how.
- Right-click on the desktop shortcut for Garry's Mod, then click Properties.
- Click twice to select the text in the URL box, then hit Ctrl-C to copy it to the clipboard.
- Open a text editor (I like Notepad++) and hit Ctrl-V to paste the URL into it, and then type the word START and a blank space so that it looks like this:
START steam://rungameid/4000
- Above the URL you just pasted, copy and paste the following text:
TASKKILL /IM "Steam.exe" /T /F
The batch file should now look something like this:
- Save the file with whatever file name (I used gmod) and the extension .BAT (for batch file) on your Desktop or wherever makes sense. Then, you can either click twice to run it directly, or create a shortcut and use that instead.
When the batch file is run, this will tell Windows to first execute TASKKILL (a built-in Windows utility) and tell it to close Steam.exe (/IM "Steam.exe") along with any child processes in its process "tree" (/T) forcibly (/F). After that, it will then start a new process to open Steam and then GMod. It'll be as if you'd gone through the steps described above manually, only without the manual part.
The above can be adapted for most any other Steam game having this problem; you'd simply open that other game's shortcut in step 2 and go from there to create a new batch file for it.
My venerable old ViewSonic VA712b LCD monitor developed a problem where it wouldn't turn on after having powered off due to inactivity.
Pressing the on/off switch did nothing, the only workaround was to unplug the power supply for 5-10 seconds and then reconnect it. This would only work maybe 1/3 of the time, so it seemed clear the AC adapter was dying. Fortunately this monitor's power supply is an external "brick" type rather than integrated into the monitor itself, so that makes it much easier and less expensive (a replacement AC adapter costs under $20).
When seeking a replacement AC adapter, be careful in selecting one. Read reviews and pay attention to the detailed ones that give good detail and not just a one-liner saying how great it is. Some cheap ones from China, for example, are poorly built and in some cases produce a LOT more heat than their OEM counterparts.
Clickbait tickles your curiosity with some wild and crazy idea, and invites you to click to find out the "whole" story.
Seems innocent enough, right?? Except, it isn't.
When you share clickbait and encourage your friends and connections on social media to explore that deceptive site, you're in effect becoming a mouthpiece for the owner of that content.
Facebook will be banning all posts expressing religious beliefs? Seems legit. Bill Gates will give you $5,000 just for sharing a photo? Sure. Obama rebuked by a former Navy SEAL? Right. One thing many of these have in common, you might notice, is that you're invited to click on a link which takes you to someone's website, or Facebook page associated with a website which invites you to visit.
Once there, mission accomplished as far as the website owner is concerned.
They have lured you in, and in doing so, subjected you to a barrage of ads, ads which make them money. Your visit to a site set up with various advertising means money for them. Your sharing that clickbait with your social media connections means even more money, especially if that content goes viral. Given that you've lent your credibility to it by sharing it with people you know, that is entirely too possible.
Do yourself, and your social media connections, a favor. Search before you share. Use due diligence and check your facts, because what someone else tells you is truth may turn out to be utter crap designed solely to spread lies and make that someone advertising revenue.
We now live in an age where informed consumers can increasingly control their digital environment.
In the area of entertainment, which includes movies and TV, we can choose to pay cable or satellite companies a hefty monthly fee for the "privilege" of dozens or even hundreds of channels we might never watch. Inevitably bundled with this pile of privilege in the case of non-premium channels is advertising. LOTS of advertising. Much the same applies to the internet.
When I browse the web, given the choice, I would with very few exceptions choose to opt out of seeing any advertising whatsoever in any way, shape, or form. I tend to be specific about what I'm looking for, and anything outside of that is generally just clutter.
Occasionally, websites will throw up a message like the one below when they detect that I have ad blocking software (in my case most recently, uBlock for desktop browsing, and for my Apple-using friends, the iOS app Purify):
Contrary to this, I'm well aware of the consequences of using ad blocking. These include:
- Ensuring my serenity by eliminating the possibility of being drawn away from what I really want from this website by at best vaguely relevant advertising.
- Saving my bandwidth (which, in this era of greedy ISPs with their data cap overage fees, is particularly important).
- Getting exactly what I want out of my experience, on my own terms and no one else's.
Serenity is important to me; advertising is not, at all. Yet advertisers and their ilk try desperately to lure as many eyeballs as possible to their wares.
Bandwidth is something I pay for, not advertisers, not website owners. They seem to assume they have a right to freeload and vomit their ads onto my internet, and believe that their advertising has even one iota of importance in comparison to what I arrived at their site to view. They are quite mistaken.
What I want often differs with what I get on sites that are rife with advertising. Facilitated by demographics obtained overtly or covertly through my interactions with social media and elsewhere, advertising appears in an attempt to cater to me based on my age, ethnicity, profession, and innumerable other personal attributes. I eagerly block all of these as I come across them on any site whose content I care to explore further.
If I find your site useful, provide a link with a reputable, non-PayPal site and I will happily consider donating. If you want to advertise things that are closely relevant to the content of yours I'm browsing in the first place, that's actually fine with me. If you passively advertise with non-intrusive hyperlinks, I'll happily leave them be.
BUT, intrude on my serenity, whittle away the bandwidth I pay for, and try to derail the experience I want to achieve, and I will block, blacklist, and if necessary make a fuss to the FCC or whomever will listen, and inform the purchasers of said advertising that you've not only wasted their money, you've brought a bit of disfavor upon their brand by choosing such advertising so poorly.In short, SHUT UP, Leslie!
That logo on Leslie's shirt seems just a wee bit familiar...
Check out Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo's YouTube channel for some funny and insightful (albeit British) movie reviews.
A photoshop thread on the SomethingAwful forums started a theme on film and TV crossovers. Remembering an infamous RiffTrax of the 2006 remake of 1973 classic, The Wicker Man, this one starring Nicolas Cage of all people, and a long gone TV series Man from Atlantis with Patrick Duffy, this seemed a natural choice.
A clever goon mentioned Nic might've had an unfortunate incident in the confines of his suit, so I simply couldn't resist replying...
