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Messages - iphigenie [ switch to compact view ]

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126

That's the thing -- we need more people to ditch it. The MS ecosystem is simply too pervasive.

I cannot ditch MS entirely. There's simply no way. I make my living on it. I'm not willing to starve my family because of "principles". My first priority is my family, and there's no way out for me with MS.


Don't move over to windows 8 :) You're probably going to be OK sticking to Windows 7 for a long time without needing to starve your family :)

127
I'd look for strips which are designed to work on a 12V or lower inverter (which also makes them suitable for bathrooms and easily outdoors)

Although I think some of these phenomenons are quite temperature dependent so you'd have to check the specs before you buy to be sure your gear works on a cold winter night :)

128
I don't know - when I was a kid we used to have a dynamo next to the wheel and that meant that my pedalling powered my front and back lights. A quick search seems to show that this can easily produce 12v (that's the cheap standard ones, I bet more is possible) but for a LED style strip it might need much stabler power supply (dynamo output probably can be stabilised in some way by putting some kind of rechargeable battery or capacitor in the way)

129
Living Room / Re: Kopimism - a newly-formalised religion
« on: January 08, 2012, 01:08 PM »
I think the main goal is to make a point against the tightening of copyright and other internet-banning laws, and try using some of the exemptions of religion to make said point.
After all, claiming that something is against your religion gives you exemptions of some laws. And religions are harder to sue.

130
Living Room / Re: Kopimism - a newly-formalised religion
« on: January 08, 2012, 08:47 AM »
http://falkvinge.net...s-official-religion/ (in Sweden)

It's at least as consistent as most other things that get recognised as religions. Although I'm not sure the sharing of knowledge and information is not, for me, the most beautiful thing there is (in a way I'd say finding/discovering/creating might be) - and that I could claim something like this without cracking out in laughter, it is true that sharing is one of the most natural things humans do - with ideas if not with resources

131
Since the original article was about webapps, here's a list of Webapps I pay for:
* task/todo list - in my case hiveminder
* mail/webmail - in my case fastmail
* time/accounts/invoicing - in my case freeagent
* rss reader - at the moment newsblur was blogbridge for a while
* bookmarks/snippets - at the moment diigo but keeping my eyes peeled for something more open
* backup - spideroak
* librarything
I have also paid for livejournal, blipfoto, a mapping site and a few topic content/community sites.

Webapps I would pay for:
* a good calendar that is easy to integrate/link to/access/share - must support setting meetings, capturing what one might want to do, and displaying a public calendar - and sync to phone :S
* a personal address/contact management system that is web and web service aware. Trying Nimble, Gist, Plaxo but none ticks all the right boxes.
* a good aggregator of all-of-me that gathers and saves what might else sink without trace and where I can export and own my content...
* a more clever version of dopplr

My problem with webapps is that so many are a single subject, one trick pony. And whereas I might spend $10-20 on a single trick piece of software that sits on my PC, the efforts one has to make to use a webapp means I am not willing to pay $20+ a year for an app that focuses too narrowly - especially if it doesnt use open formats and standards so I can take my stuff away.

132
I have never done anything that long but after 10 days I really didnt want to come back to normal life. Always had to.

Now I don't really have to but my chances of convincing my partner to commit to that long is unlikely. Working at getting a week...

133
General Software Discussion / Re: Power Mixer: I love it!
« on: January 07, 2012, 12:01 PM »
hmm, sounds a lot like codesector.com's audio sliders - although that didnt quite work as smoothly for me as I'd have expected.

I'll go try this, could save me hassle  :Thmbsup:

134
Just thought I'd revive this since it sank without a trace back then...

Since there are task monitors that can snoop on things that run and titlebars etc in order to produce timesheets and reports, there has to be a way to capture what is run in a way that then filters out only the "main programs" and creates a start menu, no?

135
Anyway to go back to software and people who buy etc. I

a) only use free web apps when I don't care much, since if I care I find something where I can expect accountability (and that usually means either free software self hosted OR paid for services)
b) use quite a lot of freeware small tools for things I only occasionally use
c) if a freeware tool turns out to be used a lot I will donate (if that is possible). I donate to 1 thing a month at least (usually freeware/donationware, rarely web, although I have donated to a fiction site and a poetry magazine)
d) if I need software for a task, i search for shareware (and here on DC) first
e) and I buy software, I tried to make a list for 2011 and it's perhaps a tad shorter than 2010 but not much (think i missed some small tools incl 1 donation here but it gives an idea) http://iphi.net/inde...ftware-i-bought-2011
f) for games I also often buy indies including pre-ordering games in early development. Think I did that to almost 10 games in 2011, not all of which are yet released. And already 2 in 2012. I can't see why I wouldnt do that for the right kind of software, too!

At the moment I am still looking for many things which I cannot yet find the right solution for - and I will buy :)

136
I alas agree the US will be scary for a while, but do you think it really will turn out different in the end than things like prohibition, mccarthy, civil rights, suffrage, etc. Turmoil and change happens, we fear the worst, and in the end at least some of the progress sticks. Sometimes some progress it fought for but lost, but the next generation tends to get it back.

They can't quite roll back the clock on transparency or empowerment for long - too many people care in too many different walks of life and countries, and the rest will care when push comes to shove.

I'd love to wake up some morning soon and discover everything I've been worried about (and harping on) for the last six or seven years was totally groundless.

Now that won't happen - but it might happen that you will find out that your harping and other people's harping and all the actions taken in so many places have helped move the plot forward.

You just have to get used to most people not even understanding why you are harping about these things because they just don't get the need or the problem at all - until the very day where it becomes so self evident to them that they don't understand why you are harping about it since they get it too, always have!  :-\

137
I was going to jump in and add my own opinion on pay/free as I differ from many in a)paying for things many take free on the web (eg: email/webmail), b)really dig "Free Software", and donate c) use freeware, and donate, and d) own almost none of the big AA list software but buy lots of independent software or indie shareware. Was going to explain why and how some of it is also powered by wanting to have the diversity continue

... but in between this thread is all turning very gloomy - in line with many recent posts I have read
http://falkvinge.net...mist-happy-new-year/
http://blog.p2pfound...orow-28c3/2012/01/01

- from the pirate party to computer and hardware pioneers, nobody likes where the world of controlled app stores, crazy invasive security laws and the aggressive copyright industry are going.

I can see that this is where the system that corporate and governement are trying to build, but I can also see that this is not the world that people think we're in - even people that are using tightly constrained devices are sharing, dabbling, trying, creating etc. And they consider this normal, and they will not accept when they are told they cannot do things they take for granted (like creating their own videos, their own writing, or a wonderful playlist, or letting their kids do fan fiction or create games) due to anti piracy rules.

As Switzerland recently stated: anything that turns most of the population into criminals for doing something they feel is normal is ridiculous and must

General purpose computers are everywhere, and they are too important a tool for systems and individuals for us to let them go and to let them be controlled by a few players and the rest of us use locked devices... Can't happen.

And I don't think it will happen - not when kids grow up able to build games for themselves on their PC or xbox. Making music on the computer, able to learn to code, hack things together. And nowadays able to bridge the virtual with the social and the physical in so many ways. We have hobby robotics and 3d printers and so much more of it is open and improving...

The change is not going away. The PC is still going strong, even though it's not cool. There's so much shareware on it, and more and more people find it (although there's so much more to find). People on the mac are buying and releasing shareware in increasing numbers. Indie games are booming. Kickstarter is enabling more and more projects to happen at less risk to the initiator.

Free software has not failed it has changed the world - nowadays you can program in any language you are interested in and release software without having to pay for the compiler. I remember when it wasn't so, and I'm only 40. I can't imagine what the world would have been without GNU and co - but I bet most of you would never have been able to even write software much...

And as for the network and carriers, it is right that they can become bottlenecks. But many don't want to, and the technology is easy enough that we will soon get grids and village carriers and a lot of ways to bypass any ridiculous limits. But I doubt it will get to that, because once the squeeze is started people will react.

Anyway, it is "program or be programmed" and I know where I want to be :)

138
I agree - you do not want to host your own email. I have done email and hosting as part of my job/company and frankly it is hard work. The amount of issues (and support hassle, if you have customers) that you get from email is high. It runs out space, bounces what it shouldn't, is constantly bombarded by spammer attempts etc. etc. And just when your connectivity or firewall has died is when you really need to send an email to notify people or file a support ticket.. and just when you can't, if you host your own :)

I use fastmail - in my case the family package with 2 of the "everyday" plans (for me and for R) at 19.99 (the family options add a "meta" management tools with extra features and shared admin but there are other options). Some of the advanced features need either the "single" 39.99/year account of a family 19.99+5 account (you sign up for the family account then add a single account, that way your login can be with your own domain, slicker!)

Not cheap but not that much more than what godaddy charge for their so-so webmail. And has been very reliable. The webmail access is non sexy but extremely nice to use - and always fully worked on Opera, which must be why Opera bought them.

it offers all the email, imap and pop, aliases, rules you might want
PLUS:
- domains and DNS (for email, local hosting or even domains used elsewhere)
- files hosting (for storage of often used files,or for sharing)
- basic websites w. domain from folders in the "files" storage (i have a static site w. holding pages)
- jabber server for your group (family/business)

https://www.fastmail...erview_features.html

All in all, could serve your needs

139
Best E-mail Client / Re: E-mail client recommendations
« on: January 04, 2012, 12:28 PM »
They solved it another way, they make the code that might be affected available http://www.postbox-inc.com/coveredcode

140
Best E-mail Client / Re: E-mail client recommendations
« on: January 04, 2012, 09:51 AM »
I like solutions where I don't waste too much time managing/filing email (dragging into tons of folders just starts taking too long)

I liked Opera M2 for its "one box, virtual folders for on the fly classification" approach, but it would get slow after a certain size (i have years of email) and didn't support tags the way I would like. I need to revisit it though as there are many new versions since I last used it.

I liked Outlook used in a "big mailbox then using virtual folders based on categories and filters" scenario, but Outlook just cannot handle the amount of email I have/had in certain jobs, and I don't like its storage. I used xobni to add some magic as well. But there's a limit to how much it can handle on imap without slowdown

So I currently use postbox which is a shareware cleaned up version of Thunderbird for both mac and windows - neat features around search and threading, very nice for daily use, some clever web integrations. Compatible with a subset of Thunderbird add-ons especially gpg (which is actually how I found it). I especially love the summarized and conversations views, very handy on long work discussions. http://postbox-inc.com/features

what’s new in Postbox 3

Awesome Gmail Integration
Native Gmail Label support
Dedicated view for “Important” labels
Send and Archive functions
Support for Gmail keyboard shortcuts
Convert detected dates to Google Calendar events

More Socially Connected
Profile photos from Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Gravatar and the Address Book
Automatically displays job titles and company names from LinkedIn
Quick and easy access to LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter profile pages
Update status directly to Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

Works with Dropbox, Evernote, and more!
Send Dropbox links instead of the files
Send message content to Evernote on the Mac
Use Date Detection to quickly create events in iCal, Google Calendar, or the Lightning Calendar Add-on
Support for the newest version of Growl (1.3)

Canned Responses
Create a set of pre-built templates specifically tailored for message replies
Super useful for replying to common inquiries

New OS Integration Features
Support for Mac OS X Full Screen Mode and Trackpad / Mighty Mouse Gestures
Windows 7 Jump Lists and improved interoperability with the popular Minimize to Tray Add-on.

141

Hi, do you really find that opera enables more keyboard control than firefox?

This is a surprise for me. I consider firefox the most keyboard friendly browser.

I can hardly say I have made a fair comparison - it is very possible that FF has also great keyboard control now, I switched to Opera years ago and back then, well... I haven't looked for it or learned it in recent years when on FF.

I really wanted to love and use FF, it being almost free software (or get iceweasel etc.) but it evolved into something that just winds me up - so much of it just gets in the way (note that I have the same problem with many popular tools and systems, where the cool bits just get in the way of what I want to do and disrupt flow, it's by far not just FF). That mean I haven't made the effort to learn the current keyboard usage possibilities. Back then you had to combine 4 or 5 not-very-compatible add ons to get that. I'm sure it is way better now.

142
Opera has been my main browser for many years now - and apart from the occasional issue with some sites that don't support it, I use it for everything. Heck, when evaluating webapps, if they don't have Opera support I look for another one, period.

Things I really like
- tabs and sessions that just worked the way I would expect
- the easily added search options. I can highlight a word and search it in board game geek, my public library's catalog, DC etc. etc.
- reopening closed tabs
- search in history from the url bar
- the synchronised notes. I absolutely love the notes. I have tons of things in it, saved snippets from websites, reference information, often pasted bits of text (for "paste from note"), things I can never remember (such as affiliate ID or my computer specs or the list of games I already own in some form)
- keyboard control
- you can install, uninstall, enable or disable extensions without having to restart the browser. To me, that is extensions done properly ;)

It takes so much work to get firefox to work half as well as Opera does out of the box. Yes, there are far many more add ons available for firefox but what's the point nowadays when we have webapps and all?

Last year I had to work with 2 customers who have a google apps setup and in order to not constantly have the collision of the google IDs I started using firefox and chrome to have each browser focused on one client/project etc. Both are usable but in each I miss a lot of little touches and it takes a lot of add ons to get them back even in a partial manner!

Yes there are more extensions in Firefox but with version 10/11 Opera finally enabled a more integrated extension type and you can find some of the same extensions now. And

Extensions I use on Opera:
- ghostery
- lastpass
- pastebin
- cleanpages ("readability)
- persistenttext (saves form content automatically)
- Textarea resizer
- a couple web developer ones

extensions I wish for opera:
- diigo

That's actually it...

143
Living Room / Re: Reddit Leaving GoDaddy because of SOPA Support
« on: December 24, 2011, 02:46 AM »
The list of companies who support SOPA is a long list to boycott - all the IP and counterfeight crowds but also a lot of strange bedfellows there

PS: moving domains that have live, active services is as much risk and inconvenience as changing one's phone - don't rush it (see my links in previous posts for pointers how to keep the DNS settings while transfering)

144
Living Room / Re: Reddit Leaving GoDaddy because of SOPA Support
« on: December 23, 2011, 06:35 AM »
Most of my domains moved from godaddy years ago except for a few ones. I must say though that their admin tools are pretty good.

I ran an agency for years we interfaced directly with nominet and opensrs and even back then domains' cost price to us was cheap. So charging $19.99 like some do (or $35 like nominet does) is a tad silly unless there is a lot of added value (dyndns might have added value)

I currently have many domains in the UK with daily (http://www.daily.co.uk) which has reasonable prices, reasonably good interface, and actually has support people that come across as people.
I also have a bunch on gandi and I have had no problems with them. Haven't used their hosting or any other services, but domain name registration comes with included minimal blog hosting, kind of cute :). And they are clued up.

If you are moving domains that have active services, be very careful that everything is set up right to avoid loss of access

- godaddy does allow you to have dns set up for domains that arent registered with them, which should allow you to keep the DNS set up there for a while after the transfer. (I am not sure if it needs a hosting account for this to work, but it is probably worth buying 1 month at 4.99 to prevent issues). That way you keep your NS records pointing to godaddy until everything has transfered and you have configured your new DNS

- some transfers are capable of copying the DNS setup automatically but this depends on a lot of factors (your existing DNS allowing the info to be accessed for zone transfers, for one)

- use a third party DNS service to be independent of registrar. For example I use fastmail for email and they can act as DNS for domains. I also use xname.org (with donation!).

145
Living Room / Re: Steam: Savior or Slayer of PC Gaming?
« on: December 23, 2011, 03:34 AM »
4wd, you're a star, I'll check these configs - thanks for finding them for me. I must admit that because this happens when I am offline I haven't done much research at workarounds :)

146
Living Room / Re: Steam: Savior or Slayer of PC Gaming?
« on: December 22, 2011, 03:03 AM »
Another annoyance with Steam - as you point out, wraith - and most other digital distribution platforms: They sell new titles at publisher's RRP. As a matter of fact, on average, digital distribution is turning out more expensive for new books, music or games (and, at first glance, movies if you buy them but I havent really looked). Somehow competition is not happening.

For example, a month on, Skyrim is £34.99 on steam and £19.99 boxed on Amazon (which activates on Steam). Even at launch there was a £5 difference. How dumb is that? Anno 2070, very recent too, 34.99 on steam, 27.99 on Amazon

It is in part as there is no cost for not selling - no stock paid for, using up space etc. In part because they can. In part because publishers resisted so long getting to online distribution that they got more power over pricing (the big ones. Little ones have steam put their product on sale, without them having any say, and take the rebate out of the publishers' cut, resulting in nearly no income from the sale except for Steam). Laws for online favor the copyright owners, not retailers. Laws on physical distribution tend to favor the retailer.

147
Living Room / Re: Kicked Off the Plane for Games
« on: December 12, 2011, 01:39 PM »
is the worry around electronic devices really about interference rather than being used to send data/messages/targeting information just at take off and landing when a plane is a target? I always assumed that this is the real reason, not interference

148
Living Room / Re: Paypal vs. Regretsy
« on: December 07, 2011, 09:09 AM »
All I can imagine is that it matched some kind of fraud pattern (fake charity drive perhaps) that the reps had been warned about and the rep didnt go look at the site and people doing it, and just assumed this was someone trying a scam

Pretty painful to read

149
If I recall, the main obstacle to the widespread use of private/public keys was that it's ok between people who know each other and exchange it, but once you are starting to do it in a more widespread way with people and companies you dont know, how do they get your key, how does it scale? Need a distribution system with some kind of validation to prevent spoofing.

And the people who tried to offer this are the same who did the SSL certificates etc. and due to greed they set the prices stupidly. So it got stuck being used within the entreprise or between servers and old school geeks, but never got a chance to catch on.

I have a whole keyring of keys :)

150
Living Room / Re: Steam: Savior or Slayer of PC Gaming?
« on: December 07, 2011, 08:36 AM »
Steam is a mixed bag - but my main beef with it is that when I am somewhere with no internet connection I have almost never managed to play my games.

It comes up with the message that gives you the option to start in offline mode, but them almost always I then get a message saying it was impossible to log in or continue offline. This is most of the time due to a pending update that
1) that Steam somehow knows of (from the last time i was online prior to closing steam a few hours before)
2) but that Steam has not suggested installation when i was online
3) Steam is programmed that it *has* to install any update before it lets me do anything further
4) As I am offline it cannot install it so errors and exits

Result: if I am offline but steam thinks/knows it has an update pending (and that is just about every other day lately) then I cannot play any of the 100+ games I have paid and "own".

It infuriates me every time. It should not happen - I should be able to start "old" steam offline and install the update the next time I am online - at least to play a game.

No other online platform does that - and it makes me wish I could move some of my games from Steam to another platform

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