Messages

76

Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.

« on: October 26, 2011, 09:53 AM »

Don't have to like the guy, but if you don't respect what he accomplished, you are missing a critical piece of your brain ...

-http://themanwhonevermissed.blogspot.com/2011/10/snipers.html

Nothing's missing from my brain, truth is I don't respect what he accomplished because I don't respect how he accomplished it.

77

General Software Discussion / Re: Finally made it to Windows 7 -- looking for partitioning reccomendations

« on: October 20, 2011, 01:41 PM »

There is always (free) tools to resize partitions afterwards (Easeus, MT Solutions, etc.), this is what I do when needed, once every 2 years or so.

-MerleOne (October 20, 2011, 09:16 AM)

That's true, I love the dedicated live Linux distro GParted myself. But still I find the process of resizing partitions with data on them to be scary, maybe it's not risky at all though.

78

General Software Discussion / Re: Finally made it to Windows 7 -- looking for partitioning reccomendations

« on: October 20, 2011, 08:21 AM »

I re-partitioned Disk 2 as follows :
- Data (~100 GB)
- Downloads (Mostly software installers) (1/3 of the rest)
- Video (1/3 of the rest)
- Backup (1/3 of the rest)

-MerleOne (October 20, 2011, 08:07 AM)

I did something like this once, but that I found one partition was getting full while others had loads of space. These days I just use one big partition per drive unless I need to split one for dual booting. It saves hassle in the long run if you don't guess the partition sizes appropriately at start.

79

Living Room / Re: The Boozernet...

« on: October 18, 2011, 07:53 PM »

Ha, well it has kept me fueled many a night

80

Living Room / Re: The Boozernet...

« on: October 18, 2011, 06:09 PM »

Not PC related but one night I accidentally spilled a full pint of Guinness into and old CRT TV. Surprisingly even after turning it upside down on a towel barely a drop poured back out. Still worked perfectly the next day, if a bit smelly.

81

Living Room / Re: A rant against the SmartPhone ecosystem.

« on: October 18, 2011, 05:02 AM »

Following the forums I've heard reports that HTC run a kind of don't ask, don't tell policy. If you void your warranty installing custom roms they still tend to repair genuine hardware faults like a faulty screen which weren't related to your software messing.

But that's not an official policy.

82

Living Room / Re: A rant against the SmartPhone ecosystem.

« on: October 18, 2011, 04:00 AM »

One thing I really do wonder about is how warranties would work if phones shipped unlocked. For example once you root an android phone you can overclock the cpu with ease. You can also do things like mess with drivers and just generally push the hardware beyond it's limits.

Asking a company to replace an entire phone because you burnt it out messing with cpu voltages feels difficult to justify.

83

Living Room / Re: A rant against the SmartPhone ecosystem.

« on: October 17, 2011, 03:35 PM »

I was thinking unlocked as in jailbroken, doh

84

Living Room / Re: A rant against the SmartPhone ecosystem.

« on: October 17, 2011, 12:41 PM »

I'll not be surprised if apple starts shipping unlocked iphones in next few months, that's what they need to do in the absence of Steve and to sustain the android attack.

-mahesh2k (October 17, 2011, 11:55 AM)

I was about to say that'll never happen. But actually, now that jobs is gone maybe such a miracle is possible.

85

Living Room / Re: A rant against the SmartPhone ecosystem.

« on: October 17, 2011, 11:22 AM »

Android OS is outselling iOS in smartphones at least and with companies like HTC offering a service to unlock their bootloader those phones truly are open.

As and example, I currently run CyanogenMod on the 2 year old HTC HD2, a phone that originally shipped with Windows Mobile 6.5. I bought it SIM free and have been able to go to foreign countries, pick up a pay as you go local SIM and use the phone without hassle on their networks.

BTW - It can also run Ubuntu, MeeGo and Windows Phone 7.

86

Living Room / Re: iPhone feature which poses a high privacy risk everytime you take a picture?

« on: October 13, 2011, 07:53 PM »

Maybe in america, but so far in the EU you can still buy a phone "SIM free" and then hook it up to whatever network you wish. Throughout the 3rd world this is true too!

87

Living Room / Re: iPhone feature which poses a high privacy risk everytime you take a picture?

« on: October 13, 2011, 11:54 AM »

I fully agree, it's a dangerous feature and people should be aware of it, but the "special report" was hilarious.

88

Living Room / Re: iPhone feature which poses a high privacy risk everytime you take a picture?

« on: October 13, 2011, 07:42 AM »

Oh noes, the hackers have discovered exif data

89

Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.

« on: October 10, 2011, 03:46 PM »

I'm awaiting the upgrade myself... 

90

Developer's Corner / Re: Windows 8 from a Developer's Perspective Post-BUILD

« on: October 10, 2011, 02:38 PM »

I've no problem with MS taking a 30% cut through their marketplace. I do however have a big problem with the marketplace being the only way to install Metro applications. I really hope that some consumer body or competition regulator steps in. Of course I wish they'd do that for Apple too.

Carol- I've played with the Win 8 preview, the Win 7 style desktop is still there and fully open, only Metro style apps are getting locked down. In fact, all in all I like the feel of Windows 8.

91

Living Room / Re: Steve Jobs is dead.

« on: October 10, 2011, 02:21 PM »

Maybe it's ironic, or maybe it was purposeful malicious deception from day one.

92

Developer's Corner / Re: Deep C Fishing

« on: October 10, 2011, 01:50 PM »

Oh she annoys me so much... but some of that might be because she has pointed out stuff I missed.

93

General Software Discussion / Re: looking for programming language

« on: October 09, 2011, 06:03 PM »

Interacting with windows versus with website elements are hugely separated domains. Can you be a bit more specific?

94

Living Room / Re: App vendors discover a new way to abuse Windows

« on: October 08, 2011, 05:06 PM »

Flash player updates drive me bonkers, mainly because of the time they choose to popup, i.e. just as you've logged in. An almost silent updater which only asks for a yes before applying the final step would be easy enough, and better for the user IMO.

95

General Software Discussion / Re: Lodsys Patent Troll - Get Ready to Scream...

« on: October 08, 2011, 03:06 PM »

This is one of the reasons why I'm hoping for wholesale slaughter in the Samsung v. Apple patent wars.

If the patent system can create a massive, high-profile debacle, then we're one step closer to sanity.

-Renegade (October 08, 2011, 01:09 PM)

I agree, it's like a bubble now, eventually (I pray) it'll have to pop.

Here's another example of the madness - Patent Troll Says Anyone Using WiFi Infringes. Like Lodsys, they're only suing soft targets.

96

Living Room / Re: App vendors discover a new way to abuse Windows

« on: October 08, 2011, 10:48 AM »

Point 3) can be tackled by requiring application installation to use MSI i.e. Window Installer, it's by far the safest installer out there in terms it's transactional support. Plus there are plenty of official and unofficial tools to allow Administrators to inspect the msi files before running them as well as track what they do while installing.

97

Living Room / Re: App vendors discover a new way to abuse Windows

« on: October 08, 2011, 09:26 AM »

Well to stick with the firewall example -

Generally windows firewall needs admin privileges if you are to add exceptions for any program. Now say you install program T, a program you trust and it needs to open a port in the firewall. You allow it because you trust it. Later you accidently run some malicious app M which wants an open port for it's nefarious purposes. If T were installed in a writable location then M can modify or replace T to take advantage of the port you entrusted to it.

On the other hand if T is in Program Files then M can only get at an open port by requesting admin privileges.

98

Living Room / Re: App vendors discover a new way to abuse Windows

« on: October 08, 2011, 08:05 AM »

True enough. But seriously... If the computer's going to get compromised there, anything goes, so whether or not your program is in AppData or wherever just doesn't matter anymore. Hosed is hosed.

-Renegade (October 08, 2011, 03:54 AM)

Not sure I agree, the whole point of UAC is that prior to you clicking yes and elevating a process your computer is not compromised. In reality UAC is not 100%, especially on the default Win7 settings. Nonetheless placing EXE's outside the protected folders is just plain careless to me, you are actively circumventing one level of a users protection and saying it's done for their convenience.

99

Living Room / Re: App vendors discover a new way to abuse Windows

« on: October 07, 2011, 10:41 PM »

Don't forget that when you install a program outside protected folders like Program Files it becomes fair game to any other malicious software. So that app you trusted to make an exception for in your firewall, oh oh, now it has been compromised or replaced by another non-elevated process.

100

Living Room / Re: App vendors discover a new way to abuse Windows

« on: October 07, 2011, 12:52 PM »

The installer should offer the option to install "per-machine" or "per-user" and only look for elevation when the "per-machine" install is chosen. I've seen many applications doing this.

Certainly any application which defaults to a "per-user" install is going to cause no end of confusion for people on multi-user machines.