Topics

851

Living Room / Graphic Help for N.A.N.Y. 2011 Project?

« on: September 12, 2010, 09:11 PM »

I posted here:

https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=23938.0

This is an idea I've had for some time now. I know that I can't do exactly what I want right now, but it might be possible to get a basic version done.

iPhone: Simple voice recorder & text memopad.
Windows client: Speech to text for the voice recorder & iPhone sync.
No Mac client proposed initially.

I have NOT investigated this thoroughly, and am not yet committing to this. Not yet anyways.

I will need a graphic designer though, mostly for the iPhone program interface. It must be super-slick. The iPhone is all about presentation.

If anyone is interested, please let me know and I'll look into the nitty-gritty more and see if it is feasible. (I'm on a bit of a tight schedule, but as I'm already doing audio work on the iPhone, this should fit well into my development schedule.)

-Renegade (September 09, 2010, 07:42 PM)

It's a complete no-go if I can't get someone to do graphic art for the software though. iPhones are all about pretty UIs, and I just can't pull it off on my own. I suck at graphic design. Badly. Worse than badly. My only redeeming quality is that I know that I suck at it.

If anyone thinks they can pull off the super-slick graphic design needed for a successful iPhone app, and wants to help out, please let me know.

Without help there, I won't even bother looking into it further. I need to know that the art is covered before proceeding. I could end up investigating it and finding out that the time commitment is too much for me at the moment as well. Not sure. I basically need to look into iPhone/PC client connections and Speech-to-Text. Those are the 2 areas that could be problematic/time-consuming.

852

Living Room / What's Your Internet Speed/Reliability SATISFACTION?

« on: September 06, 2010, 10:31 AM »

Sigh... I'm getting less than 1 digit of DL speed in kbps...

So, how does your connection stack up?

853

Living Room / The Weather...

« on: September 06, 2010, 12:04 AM »

Melbourne. It's raining.

Overhead it's overcast.

North? Clear skies.

South? Clear skies.

East. Clear skies.

West. Overcast.

Just very odd. And it's always like that. 4 seasons in a day.

Anyone get bizarre weather?

854

Living Room / My Windows & Mac Boxes & Monitors...

« on: September 05, 2010, 10:57 PM »

Sigh... Not going to rant. Much anyways. Already ranted here (includes profanity).

So I need to hook up one of my extra monitors to the Mac. Can't do the VGA one... Reasons in the rant above. Don't want to put the best monitor on the Mac -- it's on my Win7 box. But the portrait monitor would be PERFECT! I've wanted to do this for a while, but been busy with other things.

Think my Mac will "just work"? Nope. Sigh... It detects it, but won't display anything.

So, I suppose the Mac gets the good monitor (greedy <insert derogatory expression of choice />) and my Win 7 box gets the rest. Everything just works on Windows! It's not picky. It's like the...

Potentially Offensive Simile

$2 whore operating system that will go with anything!

I really thought that having a Mac would be easier than Windows when I got it. Every single thing though has proved that false. (There are a few good things on the Mac, like how it focuses for text input.) Surf & email. Nothing more. Everything else is a fight to get done... Sigh...

Anyways, back to the Mac for the iPhone version of GDT~!

Oh... On a pleasant note, I've been working with Mono and MonoDevelop with MonoTouch and only 1 word to say. WOW~! It is singlehandedly improving my negative view of the Mac. It IS possible to get stuff done reasonably~! If it keeps up like this, I may actually end up LIKING my Mac~!

855

Living Room / GDT on Bits du Jour for 50% off

« on: August 27, 2010, 11:05 AM »

Well, I finally asked Nico to put me on Bits du Jour at the Software Industry Conference this past July (pics are here and here), and lo and behold, you can now get Guitar & Drum Trainer for the amazingly, first time, 50% off, low, low price of $24.95~! 1-day only on Friday September 3rd!

(Had to get my cheesy hawker voice on there. )

I've never offered GDT for that low before, so this is a first.

I'm quite sure most people know about Bits du Jour. I interviewed Nico on the .Net Preacher Show (now gone) a while back when he first took it over. Not sure if anyone remembers that.

In any event, I will post back about what happens.

One thing I must say that I am thankful for is that my support time for GDT is near zero. So offering it at a lower price like that isn't a problem. When you spend a lot of time on support, it becomes a very real problem. Nico presented at SIC, and mentioned that issue. I giggled a bit as my work load there is like nothing.

If anyone would be so kind as to plug me in a blog post or mention it to a musician friend, I'd really appreciate it. (Like really really! The bold isn't kidding! )

I'm also FINALLY starting a Facebook page for GDT... It's about time. Got my lazy @$$ in gear for a change. So if you would like to help me out a bit, visit the page and give me a "Like". If you hate me, well, please reconsider.

Cheers,

Ryan

856

Living Room / New Desktop - Super Easy OS Upgrade

« on: August 27, 2010, 09:53 AM »

I'm quite frankly stunned. I bought a new desktop and it had Windows 7 Home Basic x64 on it, but I need Windows 7 Ultimate x64. So... upgrade time... Ouch... Pain... Been there. Done that. Hate it. Partioning sucks. New OS installations suck. Not fun.

SURPRISE~!

I ran the Windows upgrade advisor, stuck in my MSDN Windows 7 Ultimate license, and it worked perfectly.

To boot, it upgraded in less than 5 minutes.

I was SHOCKED~! It could not have been smoother.

As everyone well knows, Microsoft has had serious licensing issue in the past. But they seem to have everything covered now. And covered extremely well.

I posted a bit with a screenshot here. (WARNING: That post is safe, but the blog there is mostly a rant about Macs, Apple, OSX, and iPhone development. i.e. A LOT of profanity.)

Anyways, I was just so happy that I didn't need to install Windows that I needed to share it!

857

Living Room / Oracle Attacks Google Over Android

« on: August 16, 2010, 05:43 PM »

http://telecomyatra.afaqs.com/news/?sid=1557_Oracle+sues+Google+over+Android

Oracle Corp filed a patent and copyright infringement lawsuit against Google over its Android software, citing technology gained from the January acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

“In developing Android, Google knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle’s Java-related intellectual property,” Karen Tillman, a spokeswoman for Redwood City, California-based Oracle, said in a statement yesterday. “This lawsuit seeks appropriate remedies for their infringement.”

Let the bloodbath begin~!

858

Living Room / A Silly Wish: EULA Summaries...

« on: August 11, 2010, 07:44 PM »

I really hate LLLLLOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG EULAs. I wish that there were legislation to force EULA summaries for anything over a reasonable length. 3 or 4 pages maybe. Like who has time to read 70+ page EULAs? Nuts.

859

Living Room / Bermuda Triangle Solved

« on: August 10, 2010, 10:12 AM »

How brilliant computer scientists solved the Bermuda Triangle mystery

According to two research scientists the mystery of vanished ships and airplanes in the region dubbed "The Bermuda Triangle" has been solved.

Step aside outer space aliens, time anomalies, submerged giant Atlantean pyramids and bizarre meteorological phenomena ... the "Triangle" simply suffers from an acute case of gas.

Natural gas—the kind that heats ovens and boils water—specifically methane, is the culprit behind the mysterious disappearances and loss of water and air craft.

Natural gas? Hmmm... Mother Nature farts, and the s**t hits the fan~! Or bottom of the ocean as the case may be~!

860

Living Room / Microsoft Security Patch Pushed Early

« on: August 05, 2010, 09:25 PM »

Earlier this week, Microsoft released Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-046, which is the patch to fix this particular vulnerability. This "out of band" patch came a full week before the regularly scheduled update, due to concern for customers' security. Everyone who has Automatic Updates turned on will already have the patch installed and their system is secured against this particular threat. The only people who need be concerned are those who check for updates manually and those who are still running Windows 2000 or XP Service Pack 2 or earlier, as they are no longer supported by Microsoft.

MS10-046

I got that in one of the security newsletter that I subscribe to. I'm posting it here as it shows how the Microsoft of 1998 is very different from the Microsoft of today. They still can't manage to change their image though... I just don't get it.

861

Living Room / Android on iPhone? Well... :)

« on: August 03, 2010, 09:11 AM »

It's just so funny~!

862

Living Room / Get out your crayons to help Apple... ;)

« on: July 26, 2010, 06:55 PM »

Apple announced this morning it would be delaying production of the white iPhone until later this year.

The official reason for the delay: White iPhones are "more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected."

Source

More challenging? Muahahahahahahhahahah~! Now I've heard it all!

Ummm... Then again... Have the kids eaten all the white crayons?

This post was brought to you by the letter A and the number 5.

863

Living Room / Great Apple/Jobs Cartoon

« on: July 21, 2010, 11:53 AM »

It's in Chinese, but it's still easy to understand. Very well done, and hilarious!

864

Living Room / Software Industry Conference - Dallas, Texas -- Pics

« on: July 16, 2010, 05:39 PM »

I'm uploading some pics of the Software Industry Conference (SIC) at my blog for anyone interested. You can find them here. No time to label them yet...

I'll post back with more later.

865

Living Room / TV Controls (rant)

« on: July 05, 2010, 02:27 PM »

Wow... I've not really watched much TV (as in on the television) for the past god knows how many years, but... I'm back visiting my parents, and the controls for the TV are simply nuts.

To start... Turning on the TV can be a major task. The TV and the set-top box both need to be on. Getting them to sync up turning on is trying at best. I literally just spent probably about 3 minutes just trying to turn it all on. Every time one of them would switch off with every different combination I tried. Wow. Impressive...

Next, the onscreen TV guide is sluggish beyond comprehension. DVD players are similarly sluggish too though. I suppose a 2+ second wait is reasonable for most people? It certainly isn't for me.

Then, when it turns midnight, it takes a half hour to update the time in the onscreen TV guide...

I remember YEARS ago when I was a kid and changing the channel was INSTANTANEOUS! Turning now is like waiting for the next ice age.

Finally, the best thing on the tube is Jerry Springer with "You slept with my baby's daddy".

I want to stab myself in the eyes. It will be less painful...

And my parents have a "good" TV. Home theater type 52" monster stuff.

Does this kind of stuff (slowness in TVs & remotes & all that) seem annoying to anyone else?

866

Living Room / Obama Can Shut Down Internet For 4 Months Under New Emergency Powers

« on: June 27, 2010, 03:14 PM »

Obama Can Shut Down Internet For 4 Months Under New Emergency Powers

President Obama will be handed the power to shut down the Internet for at least four months without Congressional oversight if the Senate votes for the infamous Internet ‘kill switch’ bill, which was approved by a key Senate committee yesterday and now moves to the floor...


...While media and public attention is overwhelmingly focused on the BP oil spill, the establishment is quietly preparing the framework that will allow Obama, or indeed any President who follows him, to bring down a technological iron curtain that will give the government a foot in the door on seizing complete control over the Internet...

...Indeed, China uses similar rhetoric about the need to maintain “security” and combating cyber warfare by regulating the web, when in reality their entire program is focused around silencing anyone who criticizes the state.

Ahem... Do the words

NSFW

Fuck off and leave us alone

have any meaning?

Sneaky, and dangerous.

Why is every year 1984 lately?

867

Living Room / Facebook Login Issues?

« on: June 18, 2010, 11:04 AM »

Is anyone having any Facebook login problems? My wife keeps getting dead pages or incorrect HTTPS certificate problems when she tries to login.

It's been going on for a while, so I'm starting to think that it may be an SSL MIM attack by the ISP... Sheesh... Now if that's not paranoia, I don't know what is!

Anyways, aside from the Australian spy agency attacking Facebook users, is there anything in realityville that's causing problems?

868

Living Room / Free Games (code)? Looking for BSD licensed ones.

« on: June 10, 2010, 09:17 PM »

Does anyone know of any free games? I'd kind of like to put some easter-eggs in some software, and would like to find some BSD licensed games written preferably in C# or .NET (makes integration simple). I need code though. Just executables doesn't help too much.

869

Living Room / Reasons to be Afraid of Driving in China

« on: June 08, 2010, 07:34 PM »

This was sent to me by a friend and is hilarious in a twisted sort of way:

WARNING - This involves traffic accidents, and while it is not "graphic", portions may be upsetting to some as there are bicyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians involved.

The funny parts are when you see people slowly going along and they manage to get into an accident with a million miles of warning. Deer in headlights type stuff. Like, "Oh my god, that's the road... and that's NOT the road... Maybe I should drive there..."

870

Living Room / Kickstarter

« on: June 05, 2010, 04:37 AM »

Is anyone familiar with this site: http://www.kickstarter.com/

It looks interesting, but the numbers all seem really low for most projects to actually get "kick started".

Basically, it's a site to get funding for projects, like that Diaspora thing that wants to do something similar to Facebook but with better privacy.

871

Living Room / iTunes Store Alternative?

« on: June 04, 2010, 08:27 AM »

Can anyone recommend an alternative to the iTunes store for TV shows? (And movies, but TV #1.)

872

Living Room / So when do the iads law suits start?

« on: June 01, 2010, 09:24 AM »

And who will start the "iAds" law suit? Google or Apple? DOH! Of course it will be Apple to start the law suits. Google has a different MO.

873

Living Room / GPS Unit Recommendations?

« on: May 20, 2010, 07:18 AM »

Can anyone recommend a GOOD GPS unit?

Before you do, I just blogged a review of my current unit after using it for 3 months - TomTom XXL 540S - so that's the background for the recommendation.

I am open to just about any options, with the only important thing being that I can use it in Australia.

I value recommendations from experience most. I can read specs, but at the end of the day, specs are pretty meaningless.

I suppose my top priorities would be that I can finger-drag maps on-screen to preview my route and that the unit render data quickly.

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

874

Living Room / Free ALZip 8.0 License

« on: May 20, 2010, 12:47 AM »

You can get a free ALZip 8.0 license during the beta period.

* DISCLAIMER: I used to work for the company 2 years ago, but am no longer employed by or affiliated with the company. I of course still have friends there though. I do own stock in the company.

There's a new EGG compression format as well. It actually looks very cool. For those looking for massive options, forget it. It's all simplified into extremely easy steps that your mother can understand.

Anyways, for those that may be interested.

875

Living Room / [HELP REQUEST] Please quickly review my new Twitter client

« on: May 16, 2010, 01:56 AM »

Hello All,

If anyone has time, would they please quickly have a look at my new Twitter client, Twittle Twiddle Tweeter for Twitter. (This is RC1 pending any reviews.)

It's designed to be unobtrusive and simple to use, so don't expect it to do everything. It's meant to be an easy way to tweet without any fuss. It is not meant to be a comprehensive, do it all, Twitter client. 

Here's a quick preview:



Also, I have one specific question about a "just for fun" feature I thought about adding in... Tweet to a specific page for Twittle Twiddle Tweeter for all tweets from all users. Bad idea? Opt in/out? Stick it in the options context menu? I think it would be fun, but it does have privacy implications... Not too sure about it...

Thanks in advance for any comments or feedback.

Ryan