Messages

1

General Software Discussion / Re: What was a great program that's now been forgotten?

« on: January 24, 2020, 05:58 PM »

Ronstadt’s Financials. One of the best financial and business planning tools ever developed.

FoxPro - The PC database to end all databases.

MaxThink (single pane outliner) along with Houdini and the rest of Nils Larsson’s brilliant programs for writers, thinkers, and planners. His hypertext authoring programs anticipated much of what HTML does. Definitely tools ahead of their time.

Qmodem - a telecommunications program that was the gateway drug for the emerging online generation. For many it provided their first taste of the magic of online through the BBS world before the advent of the public Internet. (Anybody remember Rusty n Edies, FidoNet, and Boardwatch Magazine?)

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Living Room / Re: I'm getting married, wish me luck!

« on: May 09, 2019, 05:17 PM »

It’s been awhile so I’m obviously late to the party. But congratulations just the same. Wishing the best of everything for the two of you. 

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Living Room / Re: Need Video Doorbell Options

« on: May 09, 2019, 05:10 PM »

Understood... I've heard good things about the Ring devices (that's the one with the 6 month battery IIRC), and they will push the video to/through Alexa or dump it on an onboard SSD.

I thought all of the ring devices had to be hooked up to the power line.  I'll have to take another look!

We use Ring at our home. The doorbell camera comes in two versions. One uses the doorbell’s transformer power, the other is strictly battery powered.

It works with your existing doorbells and it’s been very reliable. Decent range of user selectable settings. Decent latency for a web type surveillance cam too. Has an optional swarm feature that allows you to receive updates about alerts issued by other Ring users in your area.

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Non-Windows Software / Re: Pi-hole - A black hole for internet advertisements.

« on: October 09, 2017, 08:48 PM »

It comes with a nice web admin console with some quick statistics. So here's a shot of statistics for the past ~20 hours:

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The blue area on the graph represents the percentage of all DNS requests which were blocked by Pi Hole. As you can see from the large numbers at the top, about 75% of all requests are being blocked.

I had installed the pi hole software on my Odroid the night before I posted about it here, but hadn't yet configured my router to use it for DNS lookups. According to my previous post in this thread, it seems I hooked it up at around the 18:00 marker on the graph, so even though it says those are my 24 hour stats, as mentioned above, it's really only showing about 20 hours of actual usage.

Pi Hole blocks ads, trackers, telemetry, etc. No troubles so far. But I kind of wonder how badly my entire LAN will fail if my Odroid somehow goes down and thus my router can't connect to it for DNS lookups.

-Deozaan (October 09, 2017, 03:37 PM)

Most routers allow you to specify a second and often a third DNS server. Just set the secondary to your original DNS server address. If you start seeing ads down the road you'll know your Odroid isn't responding.

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Non-Windows Software / Re: Pi-hole - A black hole for internet advertisements.

« on: October 09, 2017, 08:43 PM »

Nice one! 

6

General Software Discussion / Re: Anyone here able to code audio production / musical instrument plugins?

« on: August 17, 2017, 05:27 PM »

I think the scope of your requirements go several steps beyond what would interest a qualified coder without some financial consideration.

Seriously, much of what you're proposing is far from a trivial programming exercise. And several of the main functions you're including are already covered by long established music software. So even if you did decide to release it commercially, you'd be a late entry into an already saturated market with several entrenched market leaders such as Native Instruments, Ableton, Steinberg, and ProTools as your competitors. And without serious capital sources standing behind you, the chances of you gaining anywhere near enough market pentration to adequately fund ongoing development and support of your product is going to be pretty slim.

Not trying to rain on your parade or discourage you. Just trying to give you a sense of the realities of software development and sales.

Minor point: Ideas and dreams are a dime a dozen in the tech world. There probably isn't a developer anywhere who hasn't been approached by someone "with an idea" for a better mousetrap that "could make millions if I could just find someone to code it."

Unfortunately, the devil is in the details. Of which there are many. And there's a good deal of actual work that needs to be done to create software. So when you say you'd be willing to help out anyway you can, about the only thing a developer would consider as "help" is coding skills - or serious cash to hire those skills. If you can't provide either, I doubt you're going to be able to interest anybody who is actually capable of coding such a project.

Maybe Steve Jobs over at Apple got away with providing "vision" while a small group of software geniuses along with a small army of engineers did the actual work he was given the lion's share of the credit and praise for.  But those were more innocent times, and talented programmers expect a good deal more than just ideas from the people they're going to be partnering with. Ideas they can get anywhere - and for free.

7

Living Room / Re: Jailed 180 days for "refusing" to disclose iPhone password to police

« on: June 10, 2017, 06:59 AM »

Under the 5th you have the right to remain sikent to avoid self incrimination. But you have to remain completely silent. And if you do say anything, you'd better be sure it's true. Lying to the police or in a court is a felony although you'd never know it considering how police routinely commit perjury in courtrooms and seldom get so much as a slap on the wrist for doing it.

As any defense attorney will tell you: Fon't talk to the police. Period. Don't affirm, deny, or argue with them. Stand mute except to politely and calmly keep repeating you don't consent to any questioning without your attorney present nor (and this is extremely important) do you consent to any searches.

Don't speak if you've done something.

And especially don't speak if you haven't done anything.

Sad it's reached this point. But as any lawyer will tell you: Don't talk to the police. Don't consent to any searches.

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Living Room / Re: Organizing videos for OCDers - The Most Organized Home in America

« on: June 05, 2017, 05:44 PM »

I do think this woman needs an intervention.. But in the meantime she has some good ideas

-mouser (June 05, 2017, 03:48 PM)

The road to hell is paved with good interventions!
 

-cranioscopical (June 05, 2017, 05:03 PM)

Not merely paved.

Some interventions create their very own little personal hells.

And necessity is the mother of intervention. 

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Living Room / Re: Movies you've seen lately

« on: May 30, 2017, 06:17 PM »

I watched Dirty Dancing years back and remember finding it enjoyable, I decided to watch it again this weekend and HOLY SHIT - I was blown away by how emotional the movie made me! Maybe part of it had something to do with nostalgia but I really enjoyed it. It's amazing how time changes the way you perceive things. BTW, they're remaking it (again!) this year as a TV movie with Abigail Breslin. Sorry, but I just don't see anyone replacing Swayze and Jennifer Grey.
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-nosh (April 10, 2017, 04:04 PM)

Jen Gray is one of those endearing actresses who doesn't get half the credit I sometimes think she deserves. Being cute and a daughter of a Broadway great apparently has it's downsides.

I liked her as a windsail engineer-designer in the 1992 movie Wind.

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Living Room / Re: Movies you've seen lately

« on: May 30, 2017, 06:08 PM »

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Vanished...

-40hz (April 01, 2017, 02:31 AM)

The Hundred-and-one Year Old Man is showing in cinemas here in Germany atm.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4940370
Haven't seen either film, but read the first book, knowing very little about it beforehand: it was a real surprise, and great fun.

-tomos (April 01, 2017, 01:36 PM)

Thx for the heads-up. I didn't know they made a sequel. Watched it last night and really enjoyed it. Not quite as much fun as the first picture. But it more than held it's own despite some critics panning it.

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Living Room / Re: Movies you've seen lately

« on: May 30, 2017, 06:06 PM »

Ostrov (2006) - Available on YouTube: The Island

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Somewhere in Northern Russia in a small Russian Orthodox monastery lives an unusual man whose bizarre conduct confuses his fellow monks, while others who visit the island believe that the man has the power to heal, exorcise demons and foretell the future.

Stalker (1979) - Also on Youtube: Stalker

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A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.

TV series that I keep meaning to mention: Paradox (Unfortunately cancelled after 5 episodes) Youtube (Rather crappy video over backdrop episodes)

During a period of high activity on the sun a physicist receives images in his lab that show an event that has yet to happen.

And another blast from the past: Invasion: Earth Youtube

In the lonely Scottish highlands, a small band of military personnel fight a desperate battle against a formidable alien intruder to prevent an invasion of the Earth.

-4wd (March 09, 2017, 09:55 PM)

Both excellent movies. I just got a chance to watch The Island and came away very impressed.

Stalker is also a classic. One of my favs too! Highly recommended.

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Living Room / Good News! US Supreme Court disallows jurisdiction shopping in patent disputes

« on: May 22, 2017, 03:01 PM »

Something that absolutely had to happen has finally happened. The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has effectively barred "jurisdiction shopping" where anyone alleging a patent infringement was free to file in East Texas or Delaware - where certain courts had developed an almost cottage industry of being friendly to patent holders - no matter how dubious the the claims being made.

The patent trolls are already whining...

More on that story here.

Great news for the real innovators in the tech sector. At least now they have a far better chance a getting a fair decision next time a predatory patent infringement suit gets filed against them.

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Activation/License/Language Help / Re: WHAT LICENSE KEY ? LOAD OF CRAP

« on: May 19, 2017, 08:11 AM »

I've got to say that in all the years I've been a member of this forum, the OP of this thread has got to take the prize for the most pompous, ridiculous and utterly obnoxious post I've ever seen here.

Jeddi Master Yoda says: The sense of entitlement is strong in this one. 

14

General Software Discussion / Re: How to make a local copy of an ancient Web forum?

« on: May 01, 2017, 02:18 PM »

Had very good luck with the HTTrack spidering website copier.

Free for download under GPL/Libre. Website here.

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Living Room / Re: Get legal access to paywalled research and science papers free with Unpaywall

« on: April 17, 2017, 02:54 PM »

Excellent.  It's a crime that we fund these universities with our tax dollars and then the research results get put behind paywalls.

-mouser (April 17, 2017, 12:09 PM)

Yep. Thank the greed of universities and institutions and the cleverness of the Dutch company Elsevier in convincing them "there's gold in that there paper" and starting the "hostage research" thing which others have since gotten in on.

Funny part is it's in direct violation of a lot of funding organizations rules to do that. But the universities and Elsevier have been clever in stonewalling and only backing down where somebody knew the rules and was pushing the issue hard. But they only comply on a case by case basis rather than stop the practice.

Pretty sad. But don't expect any legal relief. They get off the hook by releasing whatever they're required to release prior to going to court, so any lawsuit over them not releasing something becomes moot. There's no rule that says they have to make the process easy as long as they ultimately comply. And most times they don't. 

Maybe someday the funding people will get a little more involved with the issue.  But they have close ties with the universities and institutes, so they're not looking to rock the boat just because a few scholars know their legal rights.

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Living Room / Get legal access to paywalled research and science papers free with Unpaywall

« on: April 17, 2017, 08:09 AM »

Good news for those of us who follow research and science but don't have deep pockets.

Details here:  http://www.opencultu...e+%28Open+Culture%29

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Living Room / Re: 1986 dial-up bulletin board system has brought the old Web back to life

« on: April 14, 2017, 07:30 AM »

There's a good 8-part documentary on Youtube. Do a search for BBS The Documentary.

It'll bring a smile of recognition (and maybe sadness) to those of us who had been there in those magical early days of pre-web and FB online communities.


 

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

« on: April 07, 2017, 07:33 AM »

...I'll probably stick with Mint because the Unity thing just left me with a bad taste for Ubuntu (even though I realize that Mint is based on Ubuntu).

-mwb1100 (April 07, 2017, 02:08 AM)

I agree. And I plan on sticking with Mint too. And for the exact same reasons. Besides, Shuttleworth's "sins" against the spirit of Linux go far beyond trying to force Unity onto everyone's desktop.

Not that Mint is totally without fault. Clement Lefebvre pulled what I considered a very petty and somewhat hypocritical move when he had Mint's remaster/remix utility taken off the boards because some people were basically doing with Mint the same thing Mint had done with Ubuntu. Which is to say making a name for yourself by taking an existing distribution, customizing it, and rebranding it as your own.

In fairness, there's a little more to it than that. But even so, it was a surprising and pretty dick thing for Clem to do.

Either way, I'm still with the Mint camp. I've been excludively Linux for my own stuff about two years now and I couldn't be happier. Last week I had to do some work that required Windows 10 and I felt like I was wearing handcuffs. So I don't think I'm ever going back. At least not willingly.

19

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

« on: April 06, 2017, 09:09 PM »

I figured it was only a matter of time, and I think they made the right move in dropping Unity.

It never gained the traction that Cinnamon attained. And with Gnome, KDE, and xfce already established, it's becoming increasingly obvious they lost that bid for desktop supremacy.

Besides, Unity was bone ugly and geared for what Shuttleworth was convinced was "the next big thing" (that didn't come to pass) for the desktop market - the touchscreen.

I don't think Unity will be missed. It was mostly a distraction for Cannonical IMO. With that clunker out of the way maybe Ubuntu will get some of its groove back.

Truth is, all Canonical would need to do to go back to the top distro slot is to embrace Cinnamon. Do that and they could suck the wind right out of Mint's sails. Because all Mint did was take Ubuntu and give the users the desktop experience they actually wanted rather than try to pull a Steve Jobs move and try convince them Cannonical's  corporate "vision" of unity was what they really wanted.

If Cannonical offers a better Cinnamon based interface, Mint becomes superfluous.

20

Living Room / Re: File Encryption - now effectively outlawed in the US?

« on: April 04, 2017, 07:37 PM »

Not only that, but it seems the FBI can arrest and charge you for hacking even if you never hacked anybody:

http://www.thedailyb...o-hacked-no-one.html

-Deozaan (April 02, 2017, 11:25 AM)

Got news... Under existing US laws, you already may be arrested and held indefinitely - without trial or charges, and at the discretion of the executive - if you are deemed a threat to US national security. The determination is solely that of the executive and applies (according to the wording of the law) to any person of any nation, anywhere in the world, and at any time. And such action is not subject to any form of judicial review or oversight in any real sense of either word.

Maybe someday the people will finally wake up and realize they're no longer living in the nation or world they think they are. 

21

Living Room / Re: Movies you've seen lately

« on: April 01, 2017, 02:31 AM »

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Vanished...

Based on the internationally best-selling novel by Jonas Jonasson, the unlikely story of a 100-year-old man who decides it's not too late to start over. For most people it would be the adventure of a lifetime, but Allan Karlsson's unexpected journey is not his first. For a century he's made the world uncertain, and now he is on the loose again.

It's got explosions, Russians, Einstein, the atomic bomb, skinhead killers, nursing homes...and an elephant. Who could ask for more?


It's currently running on Netflix. One of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

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Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« on: March 07, 2017, 06:26 PM »

Sarah Longfield on an 8-string guitar and self-produced. Her latest works are moving into prog/fusion country. Not sure if I'm completely wild about all of it. It runs the risk of going cliche if she's not careful. But she's certainly capable and inventive. If you like anime or game music, she should be right up your alley.

Makes for good background tracks when you're working or concentrating.

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Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« on: March 07, 2017, 06:19 PM »

@Ren - you'll appreciate this. Yours truly used Bitcoin for the first time just recently. Interesting. 

24

General Software Discussion / Re: alternative bullet-proof ways to print over home (or remote) puters

« on: March 07, 2017, 06:13 PM »

If you want both home and remote with bulletproof reliability, you might want to look into doing your own personal cloud server. They're considerably easier to set up than they used to be. And as long as your ISP isn't blocking dynamic DNS services, you can access its resources from anywhere. There are several FOSS cloud servers that you can get and use free for the download and the bandwidth.

For just within your own LAN, any printer with a built-in or add-on network print capability (wired - or ideally wireless) will work just fine. These have an internal print server that supports all the main protocols so Windows, Linux, and Apple's OSes can all print to it fairly easily.

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Living Room / Re: Movies you've seen lately

« on: March 07, 2017, 06:03 PM »

The Best Offer

Recently caught this on Netflix.

Enjoyable mystery about an eccentric art expert and auctioneer (played by veteran actor Jeffrey Rush) who is asked by a clinically agoraphobic and enigmatic heiress (Dutch actress Sylvia Hoeks) to arrange for the sale of a large part of her inherited collection of art and antiques. Hard to talk about it without giving the plot away. Suffice to say it was one of the better mystery movies to come out in some time. I figured it out (or more correctly hypothesized three possible endings which included the correct one) before it was over. But that didn't take anything away from the enjoyment, or the rather artistic cinematography in the picture. Recommended.