Messages

276

Living Room / Re: No, robot: Japan's elderly fail to welcome their robot overlords

« on: February 09, 2011, 05:19 PM »

But is a robot which can help with some physical chores not better than no one at all?

Japans population is ageing, the birth rate is far too low there. There might simply not be enough people in the future to look after the elderly.

277

General Software Discussion / Re: Should MS open up Windows Update to 3rd parties?

« on: February 07, 2011, 12:22 PM »

I'm actually working on a limited type of auto updater now. I would have loved if it could integrate into Windows Update but there doesn't seem to be such an option.

That said I have found integrating Windows Update into my application is quite easy, MS expose a complete COM interface to the Windows Update Agent together with excellent documentation and examples.

My intention now is to replace Windows Update and offer the user a single location for both installing MS updates together with 3rd party ones. As it is, I'm finding the application progressing quite well.

278

Living Room / Re: Death Threats in an Odd Turnabout

« on: February 07, 2011, 07:03 AM »

Besides if you read these bits,

Mr Crossley's revelation came at the close of last week's Patents County Court hearing into 27 people accused of illegally sharing copyrighted pornography, of which MediaCAT is the exclusive licensee.

Of the thousands of letters ACS:Law has sent to alleged infringers, these 27 cases are the only ones to be heard before a judge. ACS:Law attempted to drop the cases just days before its first court hearing earlier this month but was told it needed the court's permission.

Judge Colin Birss, QC, called the situation "absolutely extraordinary" and said: "I am not happy about this. I get the distinct impression that at every twist and turn there is a desire to avoid judicial scrutiny."

It's sounds like the 'death threats' were just an excuse. In reality it seems the law firm never want to go to trial, instead they just wanted to extort money from people through fear.

279

General Software Discussion / Re: Highlighting software - any alternative to Hilitext?

« on: January 31, 2011, 08:22 PM »

DWM is the new desktop manager introduced in Vista, it's what gives you the fancy transparency. You can turn it off by selecting the Vista Basic theme. It's worth trying just out of interest.

More likely though I'd still say it could be a UAC issue.

Try a reinstall, and make sure the first time you run it is as an admin. As it stands it sounds strange that you had to put your reg code in twice, it probably got confused and that's why the service didn't work.

Alternatively you could turn UAC off completely and then install and test it, probably that's a simpler way to narrow down if it's a UAC issue.

280

Living Room / Re: Why does the Mayan calendar end on....?

« on: January 31, 2011, 12:41 PM »

Please accept my rebuttal as friendly "sparring."  That's the way I received your comments! 

-CodeTRUCKER (January 31, 2011, 11:09 AM)

Me too

When it comes to predicting a collision between planets, comets, etc, I do believe the math is extremely complicated. Predicting planet movements under the assumption for circular orbits (be they around the sun or earth) is one thing, but trying to predict the future path of a comet with potential to collide with the earth requires an awful lot of background knowledge together with extremely accurate observations..

So my suggestion for a disproof is that a) If records of the Mayans math and science levels are sufficiently comprehensive, and b) If they show that the Mayans did not have this necessary background knowledge - Then one could say with significant confidence that the Mayan calendar ending is not based an an accurate prediction of an impending collision.

Two big If's I know, but I just pointing out one way in which the Dark Planet theory could very genuinely be disproved.

As for why does the Mayan calendar have an end, I'd guess just some random religious notion, or perhaps the prediction of a supposed mystic who was 'under the influence'.

281

General Software Discussion / Re: Highlighting software - any alternative to Hilitext?

« on: January 31, 2011, 10:45 AM »

Does running it as admin make any difference. Otherwise it could be a DWM issue not UAC.

282

Living Room / Re: Why does the Mayan calendar end on....?

« on: January 31, 2011, 09:56 AM »

Well... I don't know much about Mayan math, science and astronomy knowledge. But I'm sure there are enough records out there. Chances are they could prove that Mayans didn't know enough about the movement of celestial bodies to be able to predict the future date of a collision. That's one way to disprove the "Dark Planet" theory.

283

Living Room / Re: Crazy Woman is Crazy...

« on: January 30, 2011, 09:32 AM »

Well the lawyer is probably happy to accept his fee while knowing full well it's a futile exercise.

284

General Software Discussion / Re: Web images to get expiration date -- no, no, no!

« on: January 30, 2011, 09:30 AM »

Just sounds like a form of DRM to me.

I could see it working on something like Facebook, but it'd have to be opt in. As app suggests there are a number of reasons people wouldn't want their own pictures to just start disappearing from the web. I'm sure many people rely on Facebook as their sole backup, or even the only copy, of their most cherished albums.

Also, how many people realize a picture is embarrassing/inappropriate at the time?. It's only later you look back in shame, especially for teenagers.

285

Developer's Corner / Re: Choosing an Installer

« on: January 29, 2011, 03:54 PM »

Well I don't have the technical details, maybe someone here might. But I just personally see MSI's as the most integrated approach.

For example start 'Programs and Features' and notice that a number of entries don't have version numbers. Those are programs which aren't registered correctly with Windows. Start right-clicking and you'll notice that only a few offer the Repair or Change options. Again those are programs which aren't integrating themselves properly with the software database.

There are a number of safety features in Windows Installer and thing like that which give great peace of mind. The repair feature is one, rollback is another. Of course other installers could offer these features too.

I note on this Windows Installer FAQ that a list of advantages is presented. From and end user point of view, these two really strike a cord-

14. State management is maintained. In the past, it’s been difficult to know whether an application is installed on a machine. You would have to query for a .DLL with a specific version number or determine whether an .EXE file with a specific name was present. Windows Installer provides an application programming interface (API) that lets programmers and administrators see whether a specific application is installed on a machine.

15. Scriptable API. This whips together a VBScript to help us with the MSI file manipulations. The API to manipulate MSI files is so powerful that it can create, validate and update packages, trigger installs and uninstalls, examine the MSI repository data on computers, and perform some custom actions.

-http://www.msigeek.com/337/windows-installer-faq-part-1

These sorts of things are impossible when every program on your system is using a custom installer. However, when the majority of applications on your PC are MSI based then all of a sudden doors are opened to advanced methods of managing software automatically. I guess it's a case of standardization, ultimately it tends to be a good thing.

286

Living Room / Re: I Predict You Are A MURDERER~!

« on: January 29, 2011, 09:07 AM »

Love the "Teach The Controversy" ones

287

Living Room / Re: Darwinism + geneticism + two-wheeled vehicles = ... awesomeness.

« on: January 29, 2011, 08:59 AM »

I am annoyed through that only some of the wheels seem to be 'powered'. Some touch the ground at times but don't propel it at all, making me slide back down on ramps after a few amusing flips.

-worstje (January 28, 2011, 07:09 PM)

To me it does seem all the wheels are powered, but inertia, friction, gravity, etc mean some times a wheel doesn't seem to cut for a slope. Personally I'd like to see them being given more time to recover after sliding back down a hill. I've seen a few look like they were about to start motoring up the hill but a killed off because the inertia from the previous slide down it still lingered just a bit.

I imagine though the author was careful to avoid any loops where a car never actually progressed, but also never got killed off.

288

Developer's Corner / Re: Choosing an Installer

« on: January 28, 2011, 11:51 PM »

As an end user I always feel most comfortable with an MSI installer.

Microsoft encourages third parties to use Windows Installer as the basis for installation frameworks, so that they synchronize correctly with other installers and keep the internal database of installed products consistent. Important features such as rollback and versioning depend on a consistent internal database for reliable operation.

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Installer

Offering a separate portable package is a great idea too, but for the installer itself I always believe you are doing the users the best service by using MSI based tools.

289

Living Room / Re: Darwinism + geneticism + two-wheeled vehicles = ... awesomeness.

« on: January 28, 2011, 11:27 PM »

True, but could you design a better motorcycle than one resulting from 1 million+ years of evolving

290

Living Room / Re: Darwinism + geneticism + two-wheeled vehicles = ... awesomeness.

« on: January 28, 2011, 05:46 PM »

Saw this link on Reddit, apparently it's the latest version http://www.boxcar2d.com/.

291

Living Room / Re: Sony v. Hotz: Sony Sends a Dangerous Message to Researchers -- and Its Customers

« on: January 28, 2011, 07:26 AM »

Makes me think I should shut down my paypal acc.

292

Developer's Corner / Re: Choosing an Installer

« on: January 28, 2011, 05:08 AM »

I like the end result, I like MSI files for installers, feels more native or something.

Also it's not tear your hair out tough, mostly it's just copying and pasting snippets and the end result feels elegant.

So I guess I use it because it gives me a nice feeling

293

Living Room / Re: Sony v. Hotz: Sony Sends a Dangerous Message to Researchers -- and Its Customers

« on: January 28, 2011, 03:48 AM »

Damn : Court orders seizure of PS3 hacker's computers.

Still it's early days yet.

294

Developer's Corner / Re: Choosing an Installer

« on: January 28, 2011, 03:42 AM »

Well I always recommend WiX. It's a bit tough but there are things like WiXEdit to make life easier. And it has handy How To guides for most tasks.

295

Living Room / Re: Do universities have a claim on students' IP?

« on: January 25, 2011, 07:19 AM »

Sorry, 1st and 2nd level would bring you up to the end of Americian highschool. They are the levels everyone usually has an automatic right to. 3rd level is University education.

By 1st and 2nd, I guess I should have said primary and secondary education.

On the subject if IP, I do actually agree that students should retain ownership of ideas they come up with themselves while on campus. But I firmly believe something is fishy in this case. If it were just a random idea students came up with in class I fail to see how the university even got wind of it. I mean did the professor run telling tales to the Uni administrators? This story, as reported, sounds too suspicious to me.

Nonetheless I take issue with the idea of professors being employees of the students. This is not the case, staff in a University are only answerable only to the administration.

296

Living Room / Re: Do universities have a claim on students' IP?

« on: January 24, 2011, 06:13 PM »

Wraith, you are of course correct when talking about 1st and 2nd level education.

But 3rd level, university education was always held in a different light. And given the attitudes I see from students, any change to how university's operate, to bring them more in line with the earlier levels, would destroy the educational standards and make degrees worthless as a means for employers to judge merit.

Indeed that has already begun to happen. Many employers now only see postgraduate research qualifications as some which distinguishes an applicant.

297

Living Room / Re: Do universities have a claim on students' IP?

« on: January 24, 2011, 05:49 PM »

But if you go on to win $100,000 in a competition, does that entitle the gym to a share in the prize money and glory?

Receiving a grant is another matter... But for the simple case, I think this is clear cut. You're paying for services. Period. Your work is your work and you own it.

-Renegade (January 24, 2011, 05:38 PM)

I'm inclined to agree, but the specifics could be blurrier. We are told just that the student came up with the idea in class. But how much of this idea was seeded by the professor? If the idea were solely the work of the students, how did the university ever discover it?

I see now looking at the article that the application was developed as part of a contest. Contests like this are highly dangerous, usually the fine print has you give up all rights to your entry.

298

Living Room / Re: Do universities have a claim on students' IP?

« on: January 24, 2011, 05:42 PM »

If not, and the professor had no obligation to the student other than to present the coursework in the best manner that he thought, then there would be no student evaluations at the end of the semester/quarter, etc., and that evaluation would have no effect on professors (well, non-tenured, anyway).  And if so, then those opinions would have more weight than they do... even with tenured professors.

-wraith808 (January 24, 2011, 05:31 PM)

Well carrying out an evaluation would probably be considered part of the courses content. And of course the final exam to obtain the qualification is a matter between the student and the university, though the professor would likely be obligated to provide the exam, and correct them.

But should a professor be fired if all his class fail? Not at all. The college should probably investigate to ensure the professor did indeed teach the material, But if the students didn't learn it then tough on them.

299

Living Room / Re: Do universities have a claim on students' IP?

« on: January 24, 2011, 05:35 PM »

Well in some ways only.

Take the example of a gym, you pay membership so get access to the facilities/machines. But the staff there don't become your employees, nor are they obliged to ensure you get fit. As part of the conditions of their employment, they may be required to assist the customers or give advice, but whether they meet those requirements is ultimately a matter between them and the management.

300

Living Room / Re: Do universities have a claim on students' IP?

« on: January 24, 2011, 05:22 PM »

Universities and professors are nothing more than employees of the students.

-Renegade (January 24, 2011, 04:49 PM)

I disagree, when a student pays a university they are paying for the privilege to attend classes put on by a professor, and for the right to tested to see if they meet the specifications for qualification.

The notion that the professors are in some way beholden to the students is utterly wrong. The professors are employees of the university. They would be contractually obligated to cover the content of a syllabus but it is the students responsibility to ensure they learn that content.