Topics

1

General Software Discussion / If you own a Logitech MX Master 2S mouse, don't upgrade to Options+

« on: October 21, 2022, 04:21 AM »

The Logitech MX Master 2S mouse is not yet compatible with the new Logi Options+ software. Installing it will cause your mouse to have severe bluetooth connectivity problems, making your mouse unusable.

Despite this, a glitch is causing the software to being pushed out to MX Master 2S owners. If you get the notification to upgrade, or see the link to do so on your current software dashboard, don't do it! Stick with the older Logitech Options software you already have.

If you do inadvertently install the Options+ software, you'll have to plug in a USB mouse so that you can uninstall it, then un-pair your MX Master 2S, power it off and back on again, then re-pair it with your computer.

2

N.A.N.Y. 2021 / NANY 2021 Entry: Free Movies (website)

« on: December 04, 2020, 11:45 AM »

NANY 2021 Entry Information

Application Name	Movies - Watch online for FREE!
Short Description	Directory of movies that can be streamed online for free.
Supported OSes	any
Web Page	https://scarytaskbar.com/movies/
System Requirements	A modern browser
Author	app103

Description

This is a directory of movies that can be streamed online, for free. No movies are hosted, instead links to sites are provided, with an emphasis on sites where the movies can be streamed legally, for free. Occasionally, Youtube links are included, especially when they are of good quality and the video players can be embedded into the page, regardless of if they are officially licensed by the uploader or not. Movie providers are sites such as Pluto, Crackle, TubiTV, Plex, Archive.org, Youtube, Roku, Popcorn Flix, Peacock, IMDBtv, and a few others.

I built this mainly because I was automating the importing of things I watch to one of my social media profiles, and there was an interest from subscribers there for links where they can watch those movies online. I figured if I am going to go through the trouble to do that, I might as well go all the way and build a movie website.

Features

• List by genre or year.
• Search for a movie using title or keywords
• Editor's Choice list (these are movies I really liked)
• Alphabetical list page
• Facebook page where you can subscribe to be alerted to a new movie every day, 6PM EST.

Individual movie pages have info, including the following

• genre list
• year
• MPAA rating
• visitor star rating (1-5 stars) (please rate the movies you watch)
• Description
• Embedded video player (when possible)
• List of sites where it can currently be streamed for free

Planned Features
Adding lots more movies!

Right now, I am currently adding lots of Christmas themed movies (comedy, drama, horror, etc.), since that's the next holiday coming up.

If there are any specific features you would like to see added, I am open to suggestions.

Also, if there are any specific movies you want to see added, send me a message via the Contact page on my site, and I'll see if I can find links for it.

Screenshots
Blank spaces are where the ads and/or video players would normally be embedded.

Main page:


Individual movie page:


Usage
Installation
No installation needed. It's a website.

Using the Application
It should be fairly intuitive. If you can't figure it out, let me know, because that would be a sign that I need to make it more intuitive.


Tips

If you have any troubles viewing a movie on a destination site, such as the video will not play or the destination page will not load correctly, try turning off your ad blocker or using a different browser. Some sites, such as Peacock, only seem to want to work in the most popular browsers, and not others. Chrome is usually a safe bet.

Known Issues

- Embedded Youtube videos do not work in Opera browser on Android. (I believe this is an Opera issue)

- Sometimes links go dead. If that happens, and there are no current valid source links, I will remove all links till I find new sources. Since the site is still new, I am not removing individual movie pages when links are removed. However, I will start doing that once the search engines like the site more. So, you may come across the occasional movie that can't be streamed for free, at this time.

- Provided video links can be viewed in US/Canada. If you run into a country restriction, try using a VPN or proxy with a US/Canada IP address.

3

General Software Discussion / Windows 10 Audio Question

« on: January 30, 2020, 06:32 PM »

I am not sure how much of this info is relevant, so I will provide it all.

• I have a Dell Precision M4800 laptop with Windows 10 Pro.
• I have this port replicator docking station.
• I have a set of external speakers plugged into the 3.5mm headphone jack of the docking station.
• I have 2 sets of these wireless bluetooth headphones. (one to use while other is charging)

- When the speakers are plugged in, they become the default for sound.

- When either pair of headphones are connected while the speakers are plugged in, there is no sound through the headphones. Sound continues to come from the speakers, only.

- I must unplug the speakers for the headphones to work.

What I want to happen: When either pair of headphones are connected, Windows should prefer them over the speakers, automatically cut the sound from the speakers, and allow me to listen through the headphones. (without having to unplug the speakers)

Is there a way to make that happen?

4

General Software Discussion / Avast sells user data: 'Every search. Every click. Every buy. On every site.'

« on: January 29, 2020, 04:52 PM »

Leaked Documents Expose the Secretive Market for Your Web Browsing Data

"Although the data does not include personal information such as users' names, it still contains a wealth of specific browsing data, and experts say it could be possible to deanonymize certain users."

"Until recently, Avast was collecting the browsing data of its customers who had installed the company's browser plugin, which is designed to warn users of suspicious websites. Security researcher and AdBlock Plus creator Wladimir Palant published a blog post in October showing that Avast harvest user data with that plugin. Shortly after, browser makers Mozilla, Opera, and Google removed Avast's and subsidiary AVG's extensions from their respective browser extension stores. Avast had previously explained this data collection and sharing in a blog and forum post in 2015. Avast has since stopped sending browsing data collected by these extensions to Jumpshot, Avast said in a statement to Motherboard and PCMag.

However, the data collection is ongoing, the source and documents indicate. Instead of harvesting information through software attached to the browser, Avast is doing it through the anti-virus software itself. Last week, months after it was spotted using its browser extensions to send data to Jumpshot, Avast began asking its existing free antivirus consumers to opt-in to data collection, according to an internal document."

"De-anonymization becomes a greater concern when considering how the eventual end-users of Jumpshot's data could combine it with their own data.

"Most of the threats posed by de-anonymization—where you are identifying people—comes from the ability to merge the information with other data," Acar said. A set of Jumpshot data obtained by Motherboard and PCMag shows how each visited URL comes with a precise timestamp down to the millisecond, which could allow a company with its own bank of customer data to see one user visiting their own site, and then follow them across other sites in the Jumpshot data.

"It's almost impossible to de-identify data," Eric Goldman, a professor at the Santa Clara University School of Law, said. "When they promise to de-identify the data, I don't believe it."

https://www.vice.com...g-data-investigation

5

Living Room / The AI’s Carol

« on: December 25, 2019, 10:28 PM »

What happens when you train an AI with existing Christmas carols and then ask it to write its own, based on what it now knows?

https://aiweirdness....472982/the-ais-carol

A voice actor decided to record the first Rudolph one, and it's awesome: https://twitter.com/.../1209511648618172421

6

DC Gamer Club / Rabbids Coding - Learning Through Play

« on: October 09, 2019, 07:11 PM »

Rabbids Coding is a game created to be a fun and engaging educational experience, giving people the tools to get excited about learning to code. Players are tasked with cleaning up a spaceship that has been overrun by the Rabbids, which can be achieved by either providing simple instructions to a Rabbid wearing a mind-control device, or by dropping sausages in their line of sight. The game doesn't require any previous knowledge of coding at all; instructions are simple and can be dragged from a menu, placed in order, and tested with the play button. Didn't get the results you were expecting? Don't worry, just see where it went wrong, move some things around, and try again!

Rabbids Coding has been created to allow you to play with the concepts of coding, without constant supervision or instruction from a teacher. It gives you the independence to learn at your own pace, whatever your age. Your goal in each level is to provide the simplest instructions possible to get the task done. Once you've proven yourself in the basics, a sandbox environment becomes available, allowing you to explore and play with the instructions to see what you can do.

https://news.ubisoft...earning-Through-Play

Suitable for ages 7 and up. Currently being given away here: https://register.ubi...rabbids-coding/en-US

7

Living Room / The Mysterious Origins of an Uncrackable Atari Game

« on: September 23, 2019, 07:29 PM »

Released in 1982, Entombed was far from a best-seller and today it’s largely forgotten. But recently, a computer scientist and a digital archaeologist decided to pull apart the game’s source code to investigate how it was made. An early maze-navigating game, Entombed intrigued the researchers for how early programmers solved the problem of drawing a solvable maze that is drawn procedurally.

But they got more than they bargained for: they found a mystery bit of code they couldn’t explain. The fundamental logic that determines how the maze is drawn is locked in a table of possible values written in the games code. However, it seems the logic behind the table has been lost forever.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20190919-the-maze-puzzle-hidden-within-an-early-video-game

8

General Software Discussion / What are people using these days, instead of Surfulater?

« on: September 10, 2019, 01:37 AM »

I have come to a point where replacing my old Surfulater has become a dire necessity.

Recovering from a hard drive crash, where I have had to replace the drive and reinstall all my software, I can no longer activate my Surfulater license and the developer hasn't been very helpful. Currently, all my Surfulater knowledgebases are in Read Only mode.

I tried AllMyNotes, but I can't even copy and paste text from Surfulater without AMN crashing. Not to mention that AMN doesn't support tags, and never will, because the developer thinks that nobody should ever want both a folder hierarchy AND tags, and the only people that really want tags are former Evernote users, because that's all Evernote ever offered. (ahem! Surfulate supported both tags AND folder hierarchy, and I used both!)

As a cludgy work around, the AMN developer suggests adding plain text "tags" by just sticking keywords in [brackets] at the end of your notes, to give you something to search for later. But of course that won't give you the option to switch between using folder view vs tag view.

I supposed you can also use that plain text cludge with reference links and comments, but there are some other features I am in want of that are missing from AMN, such as being able to stick an item in a folder and paste a link to it in other folders, so you only have one single note to edit if you want to make changes, without having to hunt down and edit all copies in every folder. Also need the ability to use "see also" links, to link to other notes in the same database.

Most importantly, I need whatever I use to replace Surfulater to store everything locally, on my computer, with the ability to create separate databases for different subjects, with no "save to the cloud" crap. Some of my databases contain sensitive info that I don't ever want stored "in the cloud" and don't want my daughter to have to try to figure out my login, if anything should ever happen to me. I also don't want anything that requires a paid subscription, for the same reason. Then there's the "Ma.gnolia" reason for my not trusting "the cloud", as well as the "Google Reader" reason.

Evernote isn't an option because it stores everything "in the cloud". The only use I have for Evernote is syncing my shopping list from my desktop to my phone.

I just need a feature rich replacement for the no longer supported Surfulater, that's stable, actively developed, doesn't crash when I paste in text, uses separate databases, supports the features I mentioned above, no subscriptions, and keeps my data out of the cloud. (the closer it is to being a clone of Surfulater, the better)

Does anyone know of anything that has what I need? (I really just want my Surfulater back. )

9

General Software Discussion / Best reliable freeware download sites?

« on: July 24, 2019, 09:26 PM »

I am compiling a list of the best reliable, freeware download sites, and would like your help.

The list will be published here, on one of my websites.

To qualify for this list, a download site

• Must specialize in freeware or have a large freeware section that can be directly linked to.
• Must not bundle freeware with their own crapware installers.
• Must investigate and remove malware from their listings, when it is reported to them. (if you see known malware on their website, they don't qualify)
• Must describe programs accurately, including if a program is an adware or demo version.
• Must not offer shareware in a way that misleads visitors into thinking it is freeware, or that it is a different freeware version exclusive to their site, when it's the same shareware version offered everywhere else.
• Must warn if an application comes bundled by the developer, with potentially unwanted programs, for which you can opt out during installation.
• Must not offer only a handful of apps from a single developer. (I am focusing on sites that can act as a 1 stop shop for most of your software needs)

And yes, Donation Coder is already on my list. 

10

General Software Discussion / Nasty code-execution bug in WinRAR threatened millions of users for 14 years

« on: March 01, 2019, 12:02 PM »

WinRAR, a Windows file compression program with 500 million users worldwide, recently fixed a more than 14-year-old vulnerability that made it possible for attackers to execute malicious code when targets opened a booby-trapped file.

The vulnerability was the result of an absolute path traversal flaw that resided in UNACEV2.DLL, a third-party code library that hasn’t been updated since 2005. The traversal made it possible for archive files to extract to a folder of the archive creator’s choosing rather than the folder chosen by the person using the program. Because the third-party library doesn’t make use of exploit mitigations such as address space layout randomization, there was little preventing exploits.

https://arstechnica....-users-for-14-years/

11

DC Gamer Club / Game Giveaway

« on: October 24, 2018, 10:02 PM »

I have unredeemed gift URLs for the following Humble Bundles. You can Google the bundle names to see the list of games they include. These are all at the $1 level, from late 2014/early 2015.

I originally purchased them for an internet friend, but I lost touch with them.

If anyone is interested in any of these bundles, let me know which one and I'll PM you the URL to redeem it.

• Humble Weekly Bundle: Simulators 3
• Humble Weekly Bundle: Brawlers
• Humble Card Game Bundle
• Star Wars Humble Bundle
• Humble Weekly Bundle: For Lovers (of games)
• Humble Square Enix Bundle 2
• Humble Weekly Bundle: Co-op 2
• Humble Weekly Bundle: Made in Japan
• Humble Weekly Bundle: Roguelikes 2
• Humble PC & Android Bundle 12
• Humble Indie Bundle 14
• Humble Weekly Bundle: Strategy 2
• Humble Origin Bundle 2
• Humble Weekly Bundle: Multiplayer Mayhem
• Humble Weekly Bundle Presented by IGM
• Humble Paradox Bundle
• Humble Weekly Bundle: Surprise Attack
• Humble Weekly Bundle: Adventures! 2

10 bundles left!

12

General Software Discussion / Ghostery Tries to Comply With GDPR, but Ends Up Violating GDPR in the Process

« on: May 31, 2018, 02:43 AM »

The company behind Ghostery, a privacy-focused browser and an ad-blocking browser extension,  has apologized for a technical error that occurred last Friday when its staff was sending out GDPR-themed notification emails.

According to numerous user reports, Ghostery sent out emails that exposed the addresses of other users.

The emails were sent to batches of 500 users at the same time, and every user in each batch was able to see the email addresses of the other users.

https://www.bleeping...gdpr-in-the-process/

13

Non-Windows Software / Wanted - Free (or cheap) wifi calling app for Android

« on: May 20, 2018, 02:28 AM »

I purchased a new mobile phone and moved my sim card to it, so that I can use the T-Mobile service I am paying for, with the new phone.

But I still have my old mobile phone (Moto G3), now without any sort of carrier, service, or phone number that would allow me to make or receive calls on it.

What I am looking for is an Android app/service that would give that phone a new life, with a new number and allow making/receiving real phone calls over wifi only, without the need for the phone to be attached to a traditional non-wifi carrier. It would be used for US calls, only, no international usage.

What I don't want is a service that will require me to pay per minute or buy an allotment of minutes in advance, or require me to view ads or complete offers to earn credits that can be spent to make/receive calls. (I don't have time for that nonsense). I also am not looking for texting, video calls, text chatting, or any other frills (if the service comes with it, fine, but I don't need it and won't use it). I just need voice calling. I also don't want something that would require others to have and use the same app, in order to "call" me. (there's no shortage of apps that can do that, including Facebook, Skype, and a bunch of others) I also do not want ads on my lock screen or unexpected ad popups.

I don't mind paying a cheap fee, around $20 to $30 per year, but am against paying anything much more than that, as I don't expect to use it very much.

Basically, I am looking to turn the old phone into something that has a phone number that only works at home or if I am somewhere where I can connect to some sort of wifi, including free wifi.

Google Voice is out, since your phone has to have an existing phone number to set it up on your phone, and all incoming calls would get forwarded to that number, rather than to my currently numberless phone, and all outgoing calls would require an existing carrier to provide the voice minutes that would be used. Since this phone is no longer connected to a traditional carrier, I can't do that.

14

Non-Windows Software / Ubuntu will be switching back to GNOME for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

« on: April 06, 2017, 12:10 PM »

We are wrapping up an excellent quarter and an excellent year for the company, with performance in many teams and products that we can be proud of. As we head into the new fiscal year, it’s appropriate to reassess each of our initiatives. I’m writing to let you know that we will end our investment in Unity8, the phone and convergence shell. We will shift our default Ubuntu desktop back to GNOME for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

https://insights.ubu...one-and-convergence/

15

Developer's Corner / WANTED: A Mac user who knows his way around Lazarus to compile something

« on: August 19, 2016, 07:26 PM »

I am unable to compile something for use on a Mac, and I have need for a small utility to be compiled, for one of the guys on my work team...the only Mac user on my team. (The rest of the team already has access to a version I compiled for Windows.)

It's just a tiny little thing to help make his work faster & easier. Source is attached at end of this post.

It's just a URL builder, which takes a Bitbucket user name and opens the URL for that profile in the default browser.

Screenshot of Windows version:


If you volunteer to do this, you'll have to compile it in Lazarus on a Mac, changing the fonts used in the memo & button to something that is actually on a Mac. I have no clue what fonts are on a Mac, other than Helvetica, so use your own discretion and choose something legible.

16

Found Deals and Discounts / Pay What You Want: SitePoint Design E-Book Bundle

« on: January 15, 2016, 07:20 PM »

Pay What You Want: SitePoint Design E-Book Bundle
(10% of the profits goes to the charity, Save the Children)

Beat the average offer to get all 10 of these e-books*.

- Killer UX Design
- The Web Designer's Roadmap
- Photoshop CS6 Unlocked
- The CSS3 Anthology, 4th Edition
- HTML5 & CSS3 for the Real World
- Build Your Own Website the Right Way Using HTML & CSS, 3rd Edition
- Photography for the Web
- Jump Start Bootstrap
- Jump Start Responsive Web Design
- Jump Start CSS

https://shop.sitepoi...k-bundle?rid=1364224

*If you pay less than the current average price, you will only receive the last 2 ebooks in the list.


DISCLOSURE: I work for SitePoint, and while they did not ask me to make this post, the link does contain my StackSocial referral ID. I may receive some compensation, in the form of StackSocial credits, should anyone make a purchase through my link. StackSocial credits can be used towards the purchase of items offered through StackSocial shops.

17

General Software Discussion / 1Password Leaks Your Data

« on: October 18, 2015, 09:40 PM »

For those of you who don’t know, 1PasswordAnywhere is a feature of 1Password which allows you to access your data without needing their client software. 1Password originally only used the “Agile Keychain” format to store their data (not including when they were OS X keychain only). This format basically stores your data as a series of JavaScript files which are decrypted your data when you supply your master password. Since the files are JavaScript and implementations of various crypto algorithms exist in JavaScript, there was no reason why AgileBits couldn’t come along and make a HTML and JavaScript client for viewing your data, so they did.

If you browse to your .agilekeychain “file” on disk, you find that it is actually a directory. Inside this directory is a file named “1Password.html”. If you access this file over HTTP (note that using the file protocol won’t work), you will be greeted with a grey page which has a lock image and a password field. Enter your password and your keychain will unlock and you have a read only view of your data.

So what’s the problem? Well, it turns out that your metadata isn’t encrypted. I discovered this after having a sync issue with Dropbox (I use Dropbox to host my keychain). The file that had issues was 1Password.agilekeychain/data/default/contents.js. Being a curious kind of guy I opened the file to see what was in there. The answer is the name and address of every item that I have in 1Password. Every single one. In plain text.

The implications of that are rather serious, in some cases. To understand just how serious and hear what 1Password had to say about all of this, read the full article.

http://myers.io/2015...ord-leaks-your-data/

18

Living Room / In a world free from ads, one font reigns supreme. COMIC SANS!

« on: September 02, 2015, 06:47 PM »

If you visit How-to Geek with an ad blocker enabled, it now displays the site all in Comic Sans.

19

Found Deals and Discounts / AppSumo presents SitePoint Premium deal of a lifetime

« on: September 01, 2015, 01:08 AM »

As some of you may know, I have been working for SitePoint/Learnable for a couple of years, now, so when I tell you that this deal is unprecedented, consider where it's coming from.*

AppSumo is presenting a deal for a LIFETIME membership to SitePoint Premium (formerly Learnable) for $49, and that comes with unlimited downloads of all our books and courses.

You pay $49, once, and you get access to all of our book and course that we have now and every book and course we will ever release in the future.

Annual memberships are currently worth $108 per year, so this is a serious unprecedented bargain on something we have never offered before...lifetime memberships. (if and when we do offer this plan for sale on our site, it's likely to be priced at $500 or more)

Now, this is a limited time offer, good for the first 5000 that manage to take advantage of it before they are all gone. So, if you want it, hop on it now and don't wait.

http://www.appsumo.c.../sitepoint-lifetime/

* Disclaimer: I work for SitePoint but they have not encouraged nor offered me any compensation to make this post.

20

General Software Discussion / SourceForge takes over GIMP for Windows’ account to peddle adware

« on: May 28, 2015, 04:55 AM »

SourceForge, the code repository site owned by Slashdot Media, has apparently seized control of the account hosting GIMP for Windows on the service, according to e-mails and discussions amongst members of the GIMP community—locking out GIMP's lead Windows developer. And now anyone downloading the Windows version of the open source image editing tool from SourceForge gets the software wrapped in an installer replete with advertisements.

Update: In a blog post issued shortly after this story posted, an unidentified member of SourceForge's community team wrote that, in fact, "this project was actually abandoned over 18 months ago, and SourceForge has stepped-in to keep this project current." That runs counter to claims by members of the GIMP development community.

The GIMP project is not officially distributed through SourceForge—approved releases are only posted on the GIMP project's own Web page. But Jernej Simončič, the developer who has been responsible for building Windows versions of GIMP for some time, has maintained an account on SourceForge to act as a distribution mirror. That is, he had until today, when he discovered he was locked out of the Gimp-Win account, and the project's ownership "byline" had been changed to "sf-editor1"—a SourceForge staff account. Additionally, the site now provided Gimp in an executable installer that has in-installer advertising enabled. Ars tested the downloader and found that it offered during the installation to bundle Norton anti-virus and myPCBackup.com remote backup services with GIMP—before downloading the installer authored by Simončič (his name still appears on the installer's splash screen).

http://arstechnica.c...ndle-pushing-adware/

21

Living Room / Please help Archive Team save Friendfeed's content

« on: April 06, 2015, 11:05 AM »

Facebook is shutting Friendfeed down on April 9, 2015.

Archive Team is attempting to grab as much of the public content as possible, before the shutdown removes it from the internet, for good. All content grabbed will eventually be posted to archive.org's Wayback Machine.

These are the same guys that saved most of Geocities, when Yahoo shut it down. (they have also rescued content from other sites)

As an active, dedicated Friendfeed user, I have a personal interest in the success of this project. I have been in contact with them, answering some of their questions about Friendfeed, providing them with other info (api limitations, etc), and doing some community relations work related to this enormous project. (like making this post)

What they need now is at least 1000 volunteers to run a Warrior for this project, right now, or they will have no hope of being able to grab all of the public content in time, before the shut down.

If you qualify to run a Warrior, and you care about what they are trying to do here, please run one for at least this project.

To qualify, Please ensure the following:

• No OpenDNS. No ISP DNS that redirects to a search page. Use non-captive DNS servers.
• No ISP connections that inject advertisements into web pages.
• No proxies. Proxies can return bad data.
• No content-filtering firewalls.
• No censorship. If you believe your country implements censorship, do not run a warrior.
• No Tor. The original IP address is needed for the WARC file.
• No free wifi cafe. Archiving your cafe's wifi service agreement repeatedly is not helpful.
• We prefer connections from many public IP addresses if possible. (For example, if your apartment building uses a single IP address, we don't want your apartment banned.)

The Warrior runs on Windows, OS X and Linux using a virtual machine. You'll need one of the following:

• VirtualBox (recommended)
• VMware workstation/player

Or alternatively, if you are running Linux, you can try running a script for this project, directly: https://github.com/A...Team/friendfeed-grab

For more info about running a Warrior for this project, and other related project info, please see the following page: http://archiveteam.o...endFeed#Content_grab

For more general info about running a Warrior for this or any other Archive Team project, please see this page: http://archiveteam.o...ex.php?title=Warrior

PS: DonationCoder has had a Friendfeed page for quite a long time, and this project will rescue it's posts, likes, subscriber list, subscriber comments, etc, to save them for future generations, too.

22

Found Deals and Discounts / Hosting with Bluehost for $3.50/mo + a free year of Learnable

« on: March 27, 2015, 04:39 PM »

If you sign up for hosting with Bluehost before June 30, 2015, through the special link on this page, you'll get hosting for $3.50 per month, plus Bluehost will send you a voucher good for 1 free year of Learnable.

http://www.sitepoint...-bluehost-learnable/

_{DISCLOSURE: I work for SitePoint/Learnable but they have not compensated nor encouraged me in any way, to make this post.}

23

Developer's Corner / Microsoft Q&A: Azure Mobile Services

« on: March 22, 2015, 01:11 PM »

Sitepoint will be hosting a live, 4 part Q&A on their forum:

Team SitePoint is proud to announce we have 4 Microsoft Q&A sessions being hosted on this very forum. Each 30 minute session focuses on a specific aspect of Microsoft products, the first of which is this Tuesday, 24th March at 9am AEST (click here to find your timezone) on Azure Mobile Services.

Our first session will be facilitated by myself and all questions answered by Microsoft Evangelist Andrew Coates (linkedin | twitter | blog). Andrew Coates has been a Developer Evangelist at Microsoft for over ten years. During that time he’s focused on .Net development on the desktop, in the cloud, on the web and, most recently, on mobile devices. Andrew has a number of apps in various stores and generally has far too much fun doing his job to honestly be able to call it work.

 The four Microsoft Q&A sessions will take place on the following days:

• Tue 24th March
• Thu 26th March
• Tue 31st March
• Thu 2nd April

http://community.sit...bile-services/115931

DISCLOSURE: I work for SitePoint, but they did not pay or encourage me to make this post.

24

Living Room / License, registration, and insurance...or your cell phone

« on: February 10, 2015, 07:47 AM »

It's possible that in the near future, if you are pulled over by an officer, you'll just hand over your mobile phone when he asks for license, registration, and proof of insurance.

While electronic versions of these documents would be convenient for many, the current practice of an officer taking the paper/plastic versions of them back to his vehicle while he writes up your ticket, could pose some privacy risks, if he is taking your mobile phone to his vehicle, instead.

What is going to stop him from snooping through your phone, at the same time?

A recently passed bill in New Jersey allows electronic proof of insurance, like 37 other states already allow, but explicitly forbids police from accessing any other information on the phone.

But the original version of that recent NJ bill would have allowed police officers to search a driver's mobile phone without a warrant, to determine if a driver was texting or talking on the phone at the time of an accident.

And while it would be forbidden for an officer to snoop under this current e-insurance bill, it might not be in the next one covering e-drivers licenses, or it might not be under future legislation, or in states other than New Jersey.

And even if snooping is illegal, it would still be up to the officer to be a good guy, acting with integrity and complying with that part of the law. What if he doesn't feel like it? What if he snoops and finds something he can use against you and claims an "oops, my finger slipped" moment, leading to the discovery of that data (or he exploits some other loophole in the law to cover his butt)?

License, registration and cell phone: Showing insurance proof on smart phones coming soon?
E-Driver’s License Legislation in N.J. Gains Momentum

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Post New Requests Here / IDEA: Specialized folder/file cleanup script

« on: December 22, 2014, 11:24 PM »

I have a need for a specialized cleanup script that will delete files & folders according to the following rules:

I have a main folder that contains a number of subfolder with dates as their names, following this format: YYYY-MM-DD

Within those subfolders can be any number of files & folders of unknown naming convention, unknown depth.

What I need is something I can drop into the root folder which when run will check the date named folders and will delete the ones (and whatever may be within them) in which the names correspond to dates older than 2 weeks old, regardless of the actual age of the folder. (it's possible the creation/last modified date may not agree with the folder name)

I need to be able to run it without providing path information at each run, without any confirmation dialogs, without any visible windows, without any prompts or messages about there being nothing fitting those parameters to delete, etc. And it needs to exit when it is done. I do not want to be bothered or interrupted when this runs. (whether you want to send the deleted stuff to recycle bin or not is up to you, but I do not want a dialog asking me if that's what I want to do, every time this is run)

I will be running this as a daily scheduled task to remove content that has been shared via dropbox, to solve support issues more than 2 weeks prior, to ensure the customers will only receive the latest version of the content. I don't want them to be able to download it 3+ weeks later without asking for new links/new content, due to the high probability of there having been revisions and/or corrections to that content.

If there is anything about this that you are unsure about or do not understand, please ask and I will clarify it.