Messages

251

Living Room / Re: WTF? A serious news story about 50-foot tall humans on a planet??

« on: June 13, 2013, 05:17 PM »

  It's really not that funny of a joke, real dry humor IMO.  It has always bothered me that we have massive radio telescopes (SETI), that for years has sent out messages into the cosmos telling any possible life-forms where we are in the universe with hopes they would send messages back.  The U.S. gov't stopped funding SETI in 1995, and now it's still being run with civilian grants and funds.
  So why does it bother me?  What makes us think that any intelligent lifeforms out there somewhere are friendly?  If they are advanced enough to speed of light travel, we would most likely be like ants for them to study and/or conquer.  Yeah, just like the series Falling Skies.  We have a plethora of resources here that would make for a nice pit-stop for any conquering entities looking to expand into the cosmos.  Hell, we may even be a food source ourselves!

252

Living Room / Re: Legitimate app breaks popular encryption - EFS, BitLocker, TrueCrypt ...

« on: June 13, 2013, 04:58 PM »

  I use a nifty app called PINs that generates passwords generated either with built-in templates including military grade or your own templates.  You can also manually set how many characters to use.  It then saves it into a database that's also encrypted and will copy/paste your login sequence with a keyboard combination.  I've been using it for years and years, and they still keep it updated.  It has all kinds of bells and whistles too.....

253

Living Room / Re: Worth Reading: Trevor Pott's editorial on NSA PRISM and its real ramifications

« on: June 12, 2013, 08:39 PM »

Most all of this crap started from the G.W. Bushy era

-Tinman57 (June 09, 2013, 06:32 PM)

This is quite false. The problems with invasions of our private communications began under Clinton, at least

-CWuestefeld (June 12, 2013, 10:33 AM)

  I was actually talking about the government databases.  Either way, a good post.

254

Living Room / Re: Microsoft keyboard sticking keys

« on: June 12, 2013, 08:18 PM »

Now some of the formerly sticking keys are already starting to stick again. I can't believe this is a Microsoft product, it's so junky about the sticking key problem.

-bit (June 11, 2013, 01:02 AM)

  You really need to take the keys out for a proper cleaning.....

-Tinman57 (June 11, 2013, 08:40 PM)

The keys stuck from Day One.

-bit (June 12, 2013, 05:02 PM)

  Then you need to take out the keys for a proper lubrication.....

255

Living Room / Re: My New Philosophy

« on: June 12, 2013, 08:16 PM »

  If it isn't broke, don't try to fix it.
Me, somewhere around 1984

256

Living Room / Re: My New Philosophy

« on: June 12, 2013, 08:14 PM »

Live by the foma that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy.

-allen (June 12, 2013, 03:28 PM)

  Your going to have to explain the word "foma" to me.  I tried looking it up but couldn't find it in Websters dictionary...   

257

Living Room / Re: Messed Up in Miami

« on: June 12, 2013, 08:10 PM »

It's nice to see there are some really nice people around.  It sure cheered me up. 

-MilesAhead (June 12, 2013, 10:19 AM)

  I picked up an old man and his wife hitchhiking in the middle of nowhere on my way home a couple of years ago.  The old man had lost his job, house, car....Everything, and was on his way to the other side of the state for another job one of his relatives had waiting for him.  I got them about 120 miles closer to their destination.  Before I dropped them off on the side of the highway I pulled into a convenience store and handed them a $20 bill and told them to get whatever they wanted and to keep the change.  Then I gave them an unopened bottle of water that I carry in my vehicles for the rest of their trip.  I have had people help me out back when I was young (though not with $$$) and jobless, I just carried it forward.....

258

Living Room / Re: The Coffee/Caffeine Thread!

« on: June 12, 2013, 07:55 PM »

Interesting! But one never runs out of filters when they use a permanent one. 

I have been using one for almost 20 years and wouldn't consider ever going back to wasting money on paper filters. Imagine getting 20 years worth of filters for about $5. Not to say that anybody else end up with one that would last as long as mine. (I wash mine very gently by hand) The better ones do have a 5 year warranty, though, so even if it only lasts that long, you'd still save money and not have to worry about running out of filters.

-app103 (May 07, 2013, 12:57 AM)

  I broke out my old stainless steel coffee filter last week and started using it.  After a weeks use, I went back to the paper filters.  The reuseable filters allows the very fine coffee dust to pass through, giving the coffee a different, stouter taste.  But the built-in single cup brewer on my coffee machine taste just fine with the gold reuseable filter that it came with.  Guess because it's such a small amount it don't get all that bypass.  So now I use both filter and reuseable.  lol

259

Living Room / Re: Worth Reading: Trevor Pott's editorial on NSA PRISM and its real ramifications

« on: June 12, 2013, 07:41 PM »

  Here's some more reading that's pretty scary....

STEPANOVICH: Can you hear me now?
The surveillance state must be reined in

The Constitution assures us that the government will not intrude on our
lives without probable cause. The NSA's collection of telephone metadata is
unprecedented, illegal and very likely unconstitutional. There is simply no
way the government could have demonstrated the requisite grounds to
establish that each of the millions, perhaps billions, of telephone records
of U.S. citizens were relevant to an ongoing investigation.

http://www.washingto...ar-me-now-361885657/

The Corporate Roots of the NSA Spying Controversy
By Robert Schlesinger

I wonder, though, whether this debate is too narrowly drawn: Is the nub of
the problem too much government surveillance or too much surveillance,
period? After all, the government wouldn't be able to so easily accumulate
all this data on private citizens if private companies weren't collecting it
first.

http://www.usnews.co...rporate-surveillance

260

Living Room / Re: Microsoft keyboard sticking keys

« on: June 11, 2013, 08:40 PM »

Now some of the formerly sticking keys are already starting to stick again. I can't believe this is a Microsoft product, it's so junky about the sticking key problem.

-bit (June 11, 2013, 01:02 AM)

  You really need to take the keys out for a proper cleaning.....

261

Living Room / Re: The Coffee/Caffeine Thread!

« on: June 11, 2013, 08:23 PM »

Today I had my first cup of caffeinated coffee in about 6 years.  Not at all the lift I thought I'd get, though I noticed I WAS a bit more focused (emergency attention span boost needed at work while team lead is on vacation), so all in all, a successful experiment. 
If I can't sleep tonight, however, I'm gonna be ticked...

-Edvard (June 10, 2013, 11:01 PM)

  I'm the total opposite.  If I don't have my pot of coffee every day, I can't stay awake til bedtime.  Then there's the headaches from lack of caffeine....

262

Living Room / Re: Internet freedoms restrained - SOPA/PIPA/OPEN/ACTA/CETA/PrECISE-related updates

« on: June 11, 2013, 07:54 PM »

Parsing PRISM denials: Could everyone be telling the truth?

06.07.2013 3:50 PM

A number of theories are still available to make all the carefully worded
statements and shifting facts sing harmoniously together today.

UPDATE, Saturday June 8, 2pm Pacific time: Since this report was originally
published Friday afternoon, new developments have added texture to the PRISM
saga. We have updated the story below with links to relevant material.
Bottom line: The world still doesn't know exactly how PRISM works, if the
technology companies implicated in the program are issuing earnest denials,
or if media outlets originally misinterpreted NSA documents. But piece by
piece, relevant information is falling into place.

http://www.pcworld.c...ling-the-truth-.html



Prism leaker steps forward, cites 'massive surveillance machine'

06.09.2013 1:05 PM

The person responsible for disclosing details on the growth of U.S.
government surveillance programs that exploded into public view last week
has identified himself as 29-year-old Edward Snowden, a technology
contractor working at the U.S. National Security Agency.

http://www.pcworld.c...a-whistleblower.html

263

General Software Discussion / Re: notepad++

« on: June 09, 2013, 06:43 PM »

And that's a problem with the application, not the OS.  I remember the days of DLL hell quite well, and they haven't gone away... they've just been made better, and it's a bit harder to get in that situation.  But it's always possible to write sucky code.  Put the blame where it needs to lie- the applications.  And get the developers to fix the situation, or move on.  You don't have to accept sucky development. 

-wraith808 (June 08, 2013, 09:22 PM)

  Have you read the commercial software's shrink-wrapped agreements lately?  Just taking the shrink-wrap off the CD/DVD prevents you from getting a refund, so once you buy the software it's not like you can just move on.
  And I can (and do) blame a lot of this on the OS, especially after (almost every time) an OS update/patch breaks your computer and/or installed software.  I wonder why you never hear about Linux or OSX having these kind of problems?
  But you are right, I don't have to accept sucky development, which is why I'm headed for Linuxville.....     I'll keep a bare-bones installation of XP on the computer to use all my old software and games.  A bare-bones installation of XP is fast too.....

264

Living Room / Re: Worth Reading: Trevor Pott's editorial on NSA PRISM and its real ramifications

« on: June 09, 2013, 06:32 PM »

I think this makes it even more disturbing, the idea that so many could freak out about this back in 2006 and then promptly forget that it ever happened, acting all surprised all over again when they hear about it again, years later, freaking out all over again, as if they never knew and news of this was brand spanking new.

I think the old saying about those that don't remember history being doomed to repeat it needs to be revised a bit, to include something about those that don't remember history being doomed to treating it as recent news when they hear about it again.

-app103 (June 09, 2013, 05:34 PM)

  Most all of this crap started from the G.W. Bushy era, which is the biggest reason why I dislike "W".  Americans have a short attention span, thanks to all of our technology.  But the news media has a lot of the blame to go along with that, we only hear what they want you to hear.  There was a HUGE breaking story right after that to distract everyone into the new story while the old story fades away into oblivion.  The news media & government has been using that tactic for years, it was even mentioned in a few movies.
  But what do I know, I've been wearing this tin cap for so long....

265

Living Room / Re: Encrypted DNS queries via OpenDNS dnscrypt for Windows / linux / BSD / iOS / OSX

« on: June 09, 2013, 05:05 PM »

Apparently somebody already made that decision for all Americans quite some time ago.
I'm not sure whether it was an intentional joke, but I found it amusing anyway.

-IainB (June 08, 2013, 07:36 PM)

  Isn't it funny how the government made this decision for us, and against the Constitution as well?  We already know how two-faced Obooboo is, before his 2nd election he was all pro-privacy saying he would veto this and veto that if it didn't have privacy protections included in the bills.  He had us pro-privacy buffs cheering him on.  Now he don't have to worry about getting re-elected and he can do what he's wanted to do for 4 years.

  And gosh, how did this get so far off-topic?  First we're talking about encrypted DNS queries and now privacy protection!   

266

General Software Discussion / Re: notepad++

« on: June 08, 2013, 06:13 PM »

Crashes are should be pretty rare in most circumstances.  On my box, the only things that I have that crash regularly are Visual Studio and Skyrim.  Skyrim is my fault, because I mess around with it so much.  And Visual Studios is... Visual Studio.

If you have programs that crash regularly, best bet is to find something else, IMO.  Because sooner or later one of those crashes will be something more than just inconvenient.

-wraith808 (June 07, 2013, 04:29 PM)

  Problem there is, if you get something else then there's probably another app you use that it won't get along with.  I've got a couple of programs that work great as long as I don't use it while another certain program is running.  Needless to say, they aren't multitasking friendly.  lol

267

Living Room / Re: Encrypted DNS queries via OpenDNS dnscrypt for Windows / linux / BSD / iOS / OSX

« on: June 08, 2013, 04:55 PM »

I wonder if it may be all moot at this point? Especially considering all the revelations in the news last week about various service providers "cooperating" with government blanket internet usage monitoring.

I'd guess anybody offering "anonymous," "encrypted" or "secure" anything would have been among the first to receive a FISA order.

-40hz (June 08, 2013, 01:30 PM)

  They probably have, and all sworn to secrecy along with it.... 

268

Living Room / Re: Worth Reading: Trevor Pott's editorial on NSA PRISM and its real ramifications

« on: June 08, 2013, 04:51 PM »

  And I served over 20 years in the military to protect our "Rights & Liberty".  What a freaking joke..... 

  On another note, this hasn't been moved to the Basement yet?

269

Living Room / Re: The Coffee/Caffeine Thread!

« on: June 08, 2013, 04:19 PM »

Here is a couple of places I get my coffee in bulk. I buy whole bean and not preground coffees, makes for a better fresher pot.
Coffee Bean International working out of Portland, Oregon and S&D Coffee out of Concord, North Carolina. Easily found on the net for phone numbers.

From CBI, I order their Anniversary Blend, the darkest roast they have.
minimum order-20lbs. Ground or whole bean. Must be a coffee retailer/reseller. Easy to do for me, when I started ordering, I owned a business. Any business name will work.

S&D supplies me with their Traditional Blend, European Select, and 100% Colombian.
Bulk or retail is fine with them, although I am their customer under a business name.
Available by the case with 10 2lb bags, 14oz bags or cases of 1.5oz bags that make 1 pot of coffee. Ground or whole bean.

I think the dark roast blends are even better then Hawaiian Kona or Jamaican Blue Mountain (the highest priced coffees I know of). Unless I can find these two in a dark roast, which is near impossible without special ordering. I'm just not up to $40 or more for a pound for coffee. I spend from $6 to $9 a pound.

I don't know about other countries, just my own, U.S.A.

-cmpm (June 07, 2013, 05:02 PM)

  I buy my coffee beans by the 5lb bag through CoffeeAM.  I've tried a couple of other coffee places, but I think CoffeeAM has a better taste, plus it's a little cheaper.  Oh, the beans are Mocha-Java, my afternoon coffee.  Sucking on a cup right now.   

  On another note, I just retired my Hamilton Beach Brewstation for another Hamilton Beach with a single cup brewer built into the side.  Really makes a nice cup of java, plus I get more mileage (and a bolder cup of coffee) with the "Bold" setting.  Sometimes I want a cup of coffee in the early afternoon, and you have to add a little more coffee for such a small amount in a regular pot.  This new one with the single cup brewer takes care of that little problem.   
  Only bad thing about new coffee makers is the break-in period.  Even though I ran water through it to flush out any manufacturing contaminants, it still has that new coffee maker taste to it.   

270

General Software Discussion / Re: notepad++

« on: June 07, 2013, 04:27 PM »

... and reproducably crashing sometimes. 

-Tuxman (June 06, 2013, 05:26 AM)

  You mean like any other software on a Windows machine?  I've got commercial software, brand-new out of the box that crashes on a regular basis.  And then there's Windows updates.... 

271

Living Room / Re: digitising slides

« on: June 07, 2013, 04:01 PM »

...Don't

Assuming you are referring the little upright auto feeding typically fujitsu scanners. they're feed mechanisms are quite energetic and could likely damage the slides as they are whipped through the machine. Not to mention they also run quite hot. I don't believe I've ever seen a slide scanning rig that didn't use the flatbed orientation for I suspect those exact reasons.

-Stoic Joker (June 07, 2013, 11:27 AM)

  That would be a pretty good reason not to use one of those.  As small as they are, only like 6 inches long, you wouldn't think they would generate that much heat.  If they do produce that much heat then they are energy hogs.  And they always leave them on too....

272

Living Room / Re: Very thin hard disks

« on: June 07, 2013, 03:58 PM »

Ah! Okay... Same rules still apply. The thin 3.5" drives are just single (metal) platter ... hence they just don't need the extra ("full" height) room. For the portable USB drives, they are just 2.5" laptop hard drives in a plastic box. The platter is glass ... But as stated before they are surprisingly hard to break...and by that I mean while out of the drive, laying on concrete, and being hit with a claw hammer. 

-Stoic Joker (June 07, 2013, 11:15 AM)

  That......is no ordinary glass.....

273

Living Room / Re: digitising slides

« on: June 06, 2013, 08:13 PM »

Which makes me wonder how one of those little desktop scanners would work for this.  You know, the type that the doctors offices use to scan your drivers license and insurance cards.  You would think it would be perfect for negatives, but I've never used one, soooooo.....

-Tinman57 (June 06, 2013, 07:21 PM)

is this you trotting off to buy one for 'testing purposes'?

-Target (June 06, 2013, 07:29 PM)

  Nope, not I.   

274

Living Room / Re: Google forbids resale or lending of Glass

« on: June 06, 2013, 08:02 PM »

  I foresee some kind of electronic device to be sold that will interfere with GoOgle glasses recording within X distance away from the device holder for privacy reasons.  Then I see a lawsuit against the manufacturor of said device, and will be a big issue.

  If GoOgle is outlawing nudity and such, then obviously GoOgle is spying on the glass users, which don't surprise me the least.

  As for me..... Just ANOTHER reason I don't use GoOgle products, software or hardware.....

275

Living Room / Re: Magnetic North Pole migration seems to be accelerating.

« on: June 06, 2013, 07:51 PM »

If polarity reverses, True North and Magnetic North would be opposite, which would take quite a bit more calculations along with the confusion.....

-Tinman57 (June 05, 2013, 07:16 PM)

Am I missing something?

If the polarity reverses, wouldn't it just be easier to announce that south is now the colored end of the compass needle and north is the silver end? That and simply recalibrate electronic compasses since it shouldn't matter if true north is out from magnetic by 4 or 184 degrees as long as you know how much the deviation is?

It would only be a real problem while it's shifting. Once it stabilized it shouldn't matter.

Fortunately, GPS and gyrocompass systems shouldn't be affected.

-40hz (June 05, 2013, 09:24 PM)

  Yeah, you can announce it, but what about the printing on the compass?  North wouldn't be North anymore, along with the other references.  You would have to scrape off N, S, E and W and reverse them all. Gyro compasses would be affected as well if they are the pin & needle type with the needle pointing towards the references.  But I would think that even the digital ones would be off as far as east and west goes.

  EDIT:  I was in a rush when I typed this.  After I went to bed I got to thinking about what I said and realized that I got to talking about two different Nav technologies.