Messages

26

Living Room / Re: Which came first? The Chicken or the Egg? Scientists say: The Chicken

« on: July 14, 2010, 08:53 PM »

Very interesting.
This brings to mind another old idea.  I propose that ADVERTISING is the world's oldest profession.  If you think about it, even the first prostitute had to advertise!

"Hey I want one of those cool shirts that has a Mac Dock printed across it!"

27

Finished Programs / Re: IDEA: Script to set a system restore point; win7

« on: July 14, 2010, 08:47 PM »

This one looks like it has the bases covered:

http://www.winhelpon...ploads/createsrp.vbs

-MilesAhead (July 14, 2010, 06:58 PM)

Wonderful goodness.

28

Site/Forum Features / Re: Idea: DC Cody Tshirts customized for an interest area

« on: July 14, 2010, 08:51 AM »

CafePress is an excellent resource to have shirts printed (as needed).  They offer the advantage of a multitude of OTHER media (mugs, mousepads, clocks, et cetera).

29

Living Room / Re: boardgamegeek - all things boardgame site

« on: July 14, 2010, 08:36 AM »

"The Geek" is an excellent site.
I have been a member for a long time (have my entire collection of games logged on the site) and use it as a resource each time I consider purchasing a new game to add to the pile.
For those other 'serious gamers' the best prices for new boardgames is at CoolStuffInc dot com.
I have the luxury of being able to drive down the their immense warehouse and 'browse'.  But even with shipping you will not find better prices anywhere on the Internet!  And, they have a 'customer loyalty' program that beats FunAgainGames; each time you make a purchase the dollar amount affects a tiered scale of discount percentage on future purchases.

30

Living Room / Re: Woman gives USB Wedding Ring to Geeky Fiance

« on: July 13, 2010, 08:53 PM »

If the Man's ring is the USB drive, then the Woman's is a USB port?

31

Living Room / Re: Student suspended over suspected use of PHP

« on: July 13, 2010, 08:51 PM »

You know that can lead to "the hard stuff", like CSS or C++

32

Living Room / Re: Slashdot Question: How to Recover Stolen Laptop if you Know Thief's IP Address?

« on: July 13, 2010, 04:19 PM »

This article got me to thinking.
So, now, my laptop has a simple batch file that runs in the Startup group.  It displays a message that reads: "Your location and identity has been identified and the proper authorities are on their way to capture you and recover this stolen property!"

{This came to me as I recalled an incident that occurred with a good friend (whom the world lost to Leukemia).  In the days before 2001 he exercised his geeky sense of humor by installing a batch file, that ran at startup, that performed a countdown; with some message about an ignition or an explosion.  It was his personal machine and he got a little laugh out of it in business meetings.  When required to fly on business he thoughtlessly handed the laptop over to the airport security (this was before the days of the DHS), who dutifully turned it on.  My friend had a lot of explaining to do to a far-less-than-tech-savvy security person!! }

33

Living Room / Re: TV Controls (rant)

« on: July 06, 2010, 04:47 PM »

I remember YEARS ago when I was a kid and changing the channel was INSTANTANEOUS! Turning now is like waiting for the next ice age.

-Renegade (July 05, 2010, 02:27 PM)

I remember YEARS ago, when I was a kid, changing the channel meant turning the knob to the next position where a copper switch contact would make.  It would be an instantaneous connection but then you had to adjust the "fine tuning" ring to get the picture in clearly.
And you HAD TO get up out of the chair and walk across the room to do it!

34

Unicode Image Maker / Re: Apparent Bug

« on: July 04, 2010, 11:53 AM »

Confirmed.. i must have broken something.. i will try to fix.

-mouser (June 28, 2010, 09:18 PM)

If debugging is the process of removing errors,
then programming must be the process of inserting them

35

Living Room / Re: Dell knowingly shipped millions of defective computers?

« on: July 02, 2010, 08:34 PM »

Yes. I got stung by Gateway in those days (a dozen machines that represented an entire company's computer assets) and, for that reason, I have NEVER purchased another thing from them.
It caused me many headaches and much embarrassment.

36

Living Room / Re: How can we fix government? (U.S.)

« on: June 29, 2010, 08:26 PM »

Politics (noun) - Poly from Latin, meaning "many" and tics which are small blood-sucking insects.

37

Developer's Corner / Re: Going Facebook

« on: June 29, 2010, 03:46 PM »

What benefit would be gained from 'integration' with Facebook?
I am currently working on a large Facebook app (for Christian Missions in Orlando), but don't believe the 'audience' on DC is appropriate for Facebook.

38

Living Room / Re: Obama not a fan of Adam West Batman, prefers Twitter instead

« on: June 25, 2010, 09:54 PM »

Or, after decades, Russia will get "tweet" revenge.

39

Living Room / Re: I'm gonna need some grief counseling...

« on: June 25, 2010, 09:53 PM »

May it rest in 'piece'

A bad literary pun, eh?

40

General Software Discussion / Re: A [probable] RTFM conundrum ...

« on: June 24, 2010, 07:58 PM »

What is the contents of the .htaccess file in the DocRoot?
A bad "Rewrite" line could be your problem.

Another [basic] question.  Do you get proper response from an HTML page?

41

Living Room / Re: A software engineer might tell you that the fastest code is...

« on: June 23, 2010, 01:07 PM »

But the real trick (at least in software engineering) is coming up with software that does something useful, while making it run correctly, quickly, and keeping it structured so it can be maintained (for fixing or adding new utility).  Some of these goals conflict with each other.  Which is why writing software can be a very complex endeavor.

-mwb1100 (June 23, 2010, 12:03 PM)

Very eloquently stated!

The rule of software development.
You can have it:
  Fast
  Cheap
  Right
Choose only two

42

General Software Discussion / Re: how they create such beautiful graphics?

« on: June 20, 2010, 08:57 PM »

At the risk of sounding trite, they did it by hiring an artist to do it.

-40hz (June 20, 2010, 12:33 PM)

A point well made.

43

Developer's Corner / Re: A list of free programming ebooks

« on: June 19, 2010, 07:49 PM »

As the [self-proclaimed] #1 fan and major proponent of 'git', I would like to share Pro Git.

{We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming (or debugging)}

44

Living Room / Re: 20 years later, the movie "Total Recall" still kicks butt

« on: June 18, 2010, 10:35 PM »

"Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (the original) is a favorite classic.
The original pre-screening version of that movie did not contain the "parenthetical" story of him arriving at the hospital (in the beginning), telling his whole story (the main plot of the movie), and the (doctor?) picking up a phone to notify the FBI.
The way it was originally intended was to begin right in with the story and end on that scene where he is running from car to car trying to warm people coming into the town.  Then he turns to the camera and screams, 'Your're Next !!'
Apparently, the early audiences (in the 50's) thought that was just too scary.
So they added the nice (soft) wrapper that generates a 'happy ending'.

45

General Software Discussion / Re: Google Goes FARR... sorta

« on: June 18, 2010, 10:31 PM »

Thanks for sharing that!
Reminds of "the good old days" when sending email was via CLI (mail command).

46

Living Room / Re: 20 years later, the movie "Total Recall" still kicks butt

« on: June 15, 2010, 02:55 PM »

Total Recall is a favorite.  It is one of those that leaves you thinking, "Was it real, or was it not?  Well there's the scene where..., but then the other scene suggests..."

La Jetee is creepy.  I first saw it in a Film Appreciation class (in college) in the 1970's
I recall that there is ONE MOMENT in the entire film with live action.  And it is the most spooky part of the whole film.  Because it is unexpected!

Forbidden Planet is another classic.  Originally intended as a children's fantasy sci-fi film, it grew in cult status very quickly.  And it was the birth of "Robbie The Robot", who later became Will Robinson's memorable sidekick and protector.

47

Living Room / Re: Reasons to be Afraid of Driving in China

« on: June 10, 2010, 09:50 PM »

It appears, to me, the people there do not have good control over their vehicles; particularly the two-wheeled ones.  Is it indigestion from Sushi that makes them that way?

I don't understand why those intersections don't have STOP signs or rules about Right-Of-Way.  Is that not very 'zen-like' ?

48

General Software Discussion / Re: Can i upgrade to MS-DOS v6 or v6.22

« on: June 06, 2010, 08:27 PM »

As sword stated, you boot from the MSDOS 6.22 floppy.
Then, at the command line, issue the "sys" command with the designation of your hardrive.  For example
sys c:

It will install the three (hidden) OS files on the C drive.  That's it!

49

Living Room / Re: Here's an advertisement you can't block, turn away from, or fast forward through

« on: June 04, 2010, 09:38 PM »

"I think that I shall never see,
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Indeed unless the billboards fall,
I'll never see a tree at all !"
                                               --Ogden Nash

50

Living Room / Re: "The More You Use Google, the More Google Knows about you"

« on: May 30, 2010, 09:15 PM »

I think that we're seeing the end of privacy, and with that, the end of freedom. I do not have any faith in it not being exploited in diabolical ways. Sigh...

-Renegade (May 30, 2010, 07:04 PM)

I don't believe Privacy and Freedom are synonymous.