Messages

176

Living Room / Re: Why I Pirate - An Open Letter to Content Creators

« on: March 09, 2012, 07:19 PM »

Indeed, superboyac, the problem with a lack of any middle ground or compromise is far larger than this issue alone.

As for the trend of long-term contracts on everything, don't get me started ;o. It is the most outrageous crap, and *should* be outlawed in any civil society. I mean, to obligate yourself to any service or company for a period of years, with heavy penalties if you terminate pre-maturely is a form of indenturement similar to the indentured servants of the past.

If only our politicians were on *our* side... LOL. Strange how they aren't, when America is supposed to be the shining example of Democracy (even though it technically isn't a Democracy, before someone points that out ;p). As that leaked Citibank memo said, our society is now a plutocracy, something never intended or envisioned by the founding fathers. While they had a fear of true democracy, and hence set up the electoral college, they did not intend for the rich and powerful to hold sole control over our politicians.

And if you think things are bad now ... just wait as these new SuperPACs grow. Thank you Supreme Court, great job you did. (sarcasm)

177

Living Room / Re: Why I Pirate - An Open Letter to Content Creators

« on: March 09, 2012, 06:31 PM »

I edited my above post a lot, as I usually do. I didn't want drawn into this because I GIVE most all my content away FREELY. I treat my consumers with RESPECT and DIGNITY. Still, there are realities that are simply the truth:

• IP laws need reformed, but we MUST have them - else somebody could copy ALL OF DonationCoder.com and set up some new domain and that would be 'just fine'. Without IP laws, we would have chaos.
• FACT: Pirated software and other content *is* one of the largest (or the largest) vector for spreading malware. Often times this malware is completely transparent to the user, and once a rootkit is installed on the PC, the malware is virtually invisible to security software and the end user. It can lie there for years, being yet another zombie machine on a botnet. Botnet owners control millions of PCs in total, each botnet controller having their own botnet of thousands to hundreds of thousands. They then get together and coordinate attacks or do whatever else. I am not making this up to scare people. Please, do your homework before you question this, as I've worked for security companies and have analyzed this stuff with my own eyes. YES, there are safe places where pirated software is distributed, I'm sure -- but it's pretty darn hard to know which is safe and which isn't. The fact that so these botnets (or malware %) are so large says it all when it comes to malware.
• As has recently happened, pirates selling my software and putting money in their pockets, leaving me with the 'support bill' isn't cool. That is, and should be, illegal.
• Consumers should respect Producers, and Producers should respect Consumers. I am WELL AWARE that without my consumers I am nothing. I therefore treat them with the utmost of respect.

Again, I am no license nazi, with 95% of my work being either freeware or open source. Some seemed to mis-interpret my comments. I hope this clarifies it. As someone said, where's the compromise these days?

178

Living Room / Re: Why I Pirate - An Open Letter to Content Creators

« on: March 09, 2012, 06:09 PM »

First, I am not a license nazi. I give most all my content away freely. I author lots of open source. I don't go to great lengths to protect my paid software. I guess that's why pirates have been selling it lately. I agree consumers are as important as producers, and that's why I treat them with respect and dignity. I don't make them jump through hoops to use something they paid for, for instance.

Second, here's a quick article from a two second Google search: http://krebsonsecuri...y-to-infect-your-pc/

Yes, some of this malware is extremely sneaky. Ever heard of a rootkit? These guys controlling massive botnets have hundreds of thousands of PCs under their control, and the PC owners have no idea they are infected. Rootkits make it near impossible to remove or detect the malware. I am sure there are safe pirated software out there, and I'm not trying to scare people, this is just the truth. Your machine could be infected for years and you never have any idea that it's used in DDoS attacks, or whatever other nefarious purpose the botnet owner desires.

I am not MAKING UP the fact that I have SEEN and ANALYZED with my OWN EYES pirated software that installs fine, seems to work fine, but comes with an extra surprise -- a permanent rootkit infection (or other type of malware). The user never has any idea. Not ALL pirated software is infected, but this is one of the largest vectors of spreading malware. That is fact, not a scare tactic.

It's a reality. Botnet owners can tell you! How else do you think they get hundreds of thousands of PCs under their control?

... Also consider this: What if someone decided they wanted to copy ALL OF DonationCoder.com and put it up at some other URL. That happens every day to large sites. Do they have a right to do that?

Do IP laws need reformed? ABSOLUTELY. Do content CONSUMERS need protected too? ABSOLUTELY. Do content consumers need to be treated with more respect? ABSOLUTELY. However, we MUST have IP laws, else we have chaos.

179

General Software Discussion / Re: Program Files or Program Files (x86)?

« on: March 09, 2012, 05:33 PM »

I don't think there's any real reason yet to use a 64-bit browser...and this is coming from someone who routinely has 100+ tabs open every day.

-Innuendo (March 09, 2012, 09:17 AM)

Agreed. It is funny, but years ago I thought x32 would be dead in no time. Here we are, years later, with it still being the defacto standard in most cases because CPU utilization is not usually the bottleneck, and x32 code is nearly as fast as x64 code since x64 code comes with extra memory overhead.

180

General Software Discussion / Re: Lite version of C++

« on: March 09, 2012, 05:31 PM »

Just get the Windows SDK. Comes will full compiler, linker, and everything you need to build from the command line. You can use any text editor, most support syntax highlighting these days.

181

General Software Discussion / Re: SnagIt 11

« on: March 09, 2012, 05:26 PM »

First, what the heck happened here  

I've had a similar issue with my own software. Users asked for lots of features, and eventually I ended up with so many it's almost absurd ;p.

In defense of SSC, I do NOT think it is complex to use. That's just me though. It's not as simple as say the built-in Snipping Tool in Vista+, but it has lots of good features, and is generally easy to use, in my opinion. That is why I still use it.

182

Living Room / Re: Why I Pirate - An Open Letter to Content Creators

« on: March 09, 2012, 02:58 AM »

. This is a stupid debate

183

Living Room / Re: Why I Pirate - An Open Letter to Content Creators

« on: March 09, 2012, 02:03 AM »

.

184

General Software Discussion / Re: Request for information about DonationCoder

« on: March 07, 2012, 06:28 AM »

OT: Another suggestion for future software... Many people are going to hate the removal of the Windows 8 Start Menu. Maybe FARR is the ultimate solution .. just something to look into. Others have already begun work on replacing it: http://www.avitricks...onsumer-preview.html ... but you have the 'free' advantage.

185

General Software Discussion / Re: Request for information about DonationCoder

« on: March 07, 2012, 06:23 AM »

Mouser, you are saying you might prefer a non-virtual machine based server. May I suggest instead going to the Cloud? Things have changed. The Cloud is now very robust and SECURE. It *is* a virtual machine, but not like the old days. It is so cool. You can create images of your server, clone them for load balancing, upgrade or downgrade your RAM and storage space as needed, on demand, pay for what you use, etc.. It is not only cheaper, but more reliable. You NEVER run the risk of not being able to handle traffic because in 5 minutes you can have your server upgraded to WHATEVER level you need. I am on the Cloud these days, and have found it EXTREMELY effective. I'm at RackSpace myself, which has industry leading up-time for sure.

It is A LOT better than older VPS's or virtual machines. Many of those were sitting on overloaded servers. A Cloud backed by Xen or other modern technology does a much better job.

HOWEVER, in your case, I'd use SingleHop's cloud, as they give you terabytes of free bandwidth, where-as Rackspace charges for bandwidth (though the cost is very small).

186

General Software Discussion / Re: Request for information about DonationCoder

« on: March 07, 2012, 06:13 AM »

Repeating this again, as I post-edited (as usual):

As for animosity. I hold NO animosity towards mouser. I am sure he does not have any nefarious or bad intentions. That is not sarcasm, I am serious. Unlike him, I sadly sometimes do 'go apeshit', but this isn't one of those times. This was a simple request for more transparency. It just seems natural and would increase user trust, IMHO. When they see he is poor, they'll donate more. They'll trust that the donations are going to good causes, and he's no millionaire.

I wanted this point to be clear. Mouser is a great guy, with strong morals. I could only hope to be as 'stable' as he appears to be, to be honest, lol. I get emotionally disturbed by things, let my passion influence my judgement, etc.. He doesn't have those faults, though I'm sure, like any human, he does have faults.

Mouser is a man of integrity though, and that is something I would never question, so do not take this as questioning his integrity. There, stated there different ways, so hopefully clear

187

General Software Discussion / Re: Request for information about DonationCoder

« on: March 07, 2012, 06:05 AM »

Cheaper dedicated server with better uptime? I'm all eyes to read more ......

-mahesh2k (March 07, 2012, 05:04 AM)

Mine is cheaper with industry leading uptime ;o. I mean, come on, ANY quote you get from any major hosting provider is cheaper than DC's cost. Check SingleHop's prices for dedicated servers. Most smaller hosting providers (e.g. JustHost or HostMonster) are backed by dedicated providers like SingleHop, and the trick is to stay away from small hosting providers and go straight to the source. Yes, those I mentioned are shared hosting providers, but they ALSO resell dedicated servers, just charge you more than they pay, lol.

Check SingleHop's prices for yourself. See if you can figure a way that DC could possibly cost that much. Surely he is getting ripped off. Take action, the savings would be tremendous! Further, if set up years ago, surely the dedicated hardware has gotten old, and the price is now far higher than it should be. Is this not helpful? During a recent server switch, it took me less than a day to set up the server. It wouldn't take him long either, as it's so easy. I know he's competent enough to do it, and the PHP is cross-platform.. so he's not bound to Windows or linux.

I use SingleHop as a reference because I think everyone would agree they are one of maybe 3 of the largest dedicated hosting providers that back a large majority of servers not hosted in-house.

@JoTo: I am aware there is no obligation of mouser's to disclose his donations. However, given the community nature of the site, it might be helpful to increase trust in the site. If you get my drift. And perhaps I have no point, lol. It wouldn't be the first time.

I am also satisfied with mouser and his efforts. It was just a thought ....

As for animosity. I hold NO animosity towards mouser. I am sure he does not have any nefarious or bad intentions. That is not sarcasm, I am serious. Unlike him, I sadly sometimes do 'go apeshit', but this isn't one of those times. This was a simple request for more transparency. It just seems natural and would increase user trust, IMHO. When they see he is poor, they'll donate more.

188

General Software Discussion / Re: SnagIt 11

« on: March 07, 2012, 04:37 AM »

I still do use Screenshot Captor myself. It is a great tool. Nice work on it, using whatever third party components and code from the web you use. It came together well. My intention was not to advertise some competing product, as clearly they are full blown commercial. It was more 'informational'

189

General Software Discussion / Re: Request for information about DonationCoder

« on: March 07, 2012, 04:31 AM »

PREDICTION: I may be banned for posting this, lol. It is not my INTENTION to hurt my friend mouser's revenue stream, or what he has built. Just like I'm sure he has no intentions to hurt me. He wouldn't, for instance, start copying my software with third-party components and code on the web, then giving a cheap hack away, that wouldn't be friendly. I'm just hoping to help him avoid troubles down the road.

190

General Software Discussion / Re: Request for information

« on: March 07, 2012, 04:18 AM »

I can't imagine mouser not making sure any components he is using are properly licensed, or misappropriating any donations .. he knows I would frown upon that!

-Jibz (March 07, 2012, 04:10 AM)

Likewise, I'm sure he hasn't, it is just the world is so complex these days, an 'audit' is probably in order given the freeware/donationware complication, and the fact that so much freeware isn't freeware anymore, it's bundleware (something mouser does endorse, though not use YET afaik). For him, I guess it is another way to avoid actually charging for software. What is so wrong with charging for software? Beats me. Seems better than begging, BUT with his kind of income, maybe I've got it backwards ;p.

HOWEVER, if he is really paying that much for a server, he needs to take a day or two and switch, for God's sake ;p.

I do assume he is paying his taxes, I know he isn't that bold as to try to cheat the IRS. I couldn't sleep at night if I tried that, even if the odds were in my favor. This isn't a charity, it is a business, and taxes must be paid. I've never heard him complain about them, but EVERY OTHER software developer I know has --- because we, as self-employeed people, are taxed out the arse here in the USA.

We ALL want to make sure mouser has a livable income. However, at the same time, if he were generating more revenue than anyone imagined, I can't help but wonder .... Hmm... If he needs MORE, then we should be able to look at the books and give him more. If he does NOT need more, then we should likewise be notified. That's the compromise in running a pretend-charity, which is what I consider DonationCoder to be. It's like a charity, but not. It's a business.

191

General Software Discussion / Request for information about DonationCoder

« on: March 07, 2012, 02:57 AM »

What third-party components and code are used in Screenshot Captor and other utilities here? I know SSC has several, for image manipulation and such. Are these properly licensed? Many allow licensing for 'freeware', but is donationware freeware? I would hope everything is licensed ;o. Ah, I'm sure they are! After all, this is a business - not a traditionally run business, but it is a business since it has incoming revenue. Just looking out for DC, making sure everything is run as a business MUST be run by law (whether we like it or not).

DonationCoder supposedly has hosting costs of $450+ a month, which is ABSURD .. you can set up a cheaper dedicated server in no time at 1/4 the cost. Why pay so much? I estimate DC revenues to EXCEED $60k a year (at least) , with the fund raising and donations, which is NOT BAD AT ALL. Quite good actually, very good. Nice job mouser!

I would, however, request that since this site is 'open' and relies on 'donations', that we see the books and make sure these donations are not being misappropriated, and just how many donations there are. Then, when you beg for donations, we'll all know how bad you need, or don't need them.

Heck, at that level of success, maybe I'll open my own donation based site . Nice work. Great scheme, though I hate schemes ;p. I prefer the old fashioned way of doing business. You know, you pay for a good or service a reasonable price, and everyone is happy. Yea, I think I'll stick with my own traditional business. Still, it is amazing this site generates that kind of revenue.

Just looking out for DC, as I don't think the owner gets that it is a business sometimes. You are also liable for taxes, which I hope you know!!! Else you'll find out and be in real bad shape.

As many know, I've given all the advice and help I can to the site, so I hope this doesn't sound accusatory or anything, just making sure all bases are covered. Finally got him signing his apps, instead of complaining about warnings. I probably saved him and the site from numerous false positives right there (seriously).

Best of luck to Donation Coder's continued thriving business!

192

General Software Discussion / SnagIt 11

« on: March 07, 2012, 01:57 AM »

I see SnagIt has updated again, supporting videocasting now. http://feeds.betanew...r/bn/~3/JX3AHLhM6wk/

193

General Software Discussion / Re: rename opened file

« on: March 06, 2012, 06:54 PM »

Such things really are best scripted. Linux shell scripting, something you could use via CygWin in Windows, would be excellent for such a task. HOWEVER, you do have to have a little programmatic knowledge. Specific things like this simply require such.

I don't think you'll find any pre-written program or script to do what you want, as your needs are too unique. You might try hiring a foreign programmer at http://rentacoder.com or something. But you gotta pay for their work. Fortunately, this project is simple, and their work is usually cheap.

194

Living Room / Re: Obtaining Windows OS ISO's

« on: March 06, 2012, 01:40 AM »

I would question who set the requirement to use Win9x. You've got all sorts of licensing problems there since it is deprecated by Microsoft. Even if you *wanted* to BUY licenses, I'm not sure you could. Someone at Microsoft might donate licenses to a charity, though then *they* have problems since they are donating licenses for a deprecated product that they no longer maintain, so would have you sign some disclaimer that you know security issues may exist (and they do!).

As I'm sure you know, ReactOS (Windows rewrite by a third-party group) has finally grown quite mature and is a suitable FREE replacement for Windows that is fully compatible with the Windows XP kernel. That means all drivers and such will work. Well, you know - http://www.reactos.org/en/index.html . Users likely wouldn't tell the difference between it and native Windows to be honest.

195

Find And Run Robot / Re: Detected trojan : Win32.Troj.Kryptic.a (kcloud)

« on: March 05, 2012, 11:58 PM »

And when people eventually grow weary of reporting false positives individually, all over the net, perhaps hundreds a day, then you can visit http://falsepositivereport.org . I doubt the site will ever take off, to be honest. However, it is monitored by representatives of the major security industry products, and almost all reports have led to timely fixes (though that isn't guaranteed).

Some may call it 'shame and name', and indeed we must document occurrences like this in an effort to DETER them. Else, they become another way to scare users into purchasing security software.

As for how to check a detection, the best service remains http://virustotal.com . Any time you have a detection, run it through that site, and it will give you the results of over 40 different security software suites. A false positive would typically show up in 1-5 of them (as some use the same engine, especially the smaller vendors). A real detection is more likely to show up on almost all of them.

196

General Software Discussion / Re: Many sites are exposing their real-time server status /w client IPs and full URI

« on: March 05, 2012, 11:29 PM »

Indeed, but would you believe Wired.com and WashingtonPost.com are vulnerable? That's insane. And I just checked a handful of sites off the top of my head. Again, Wired.com is load balanced, so only a percentage of its servers are affected (and it could even be fixed now).

Like I mention, Apache.org sets a terrible example, with their sites wide open. PHP.net, which I checked on today's 5.4.0 release of PHP, is also wide open and reveals they ironically are still running extremely old versions of Apache and PHP, lol.

What needs to happen is either an increase in user awareness, OR a change in defaults. One or the other, in my opinion.

197

General Software Discussion / Many sites are exposing their real-time server status /w client IPs and full URI

« on: March 05, 2012, 10:52 PM »

Source: http://thepileof.blo...-status-vfolder.html  (one of my misc blogs)



I describe this all on my blog. Basically, the default Apache configuration includes mod_status (a 'base' module, meaning statically linked by default), and many server admins don't bother securing it. This means all client IPs, and their server requests, are being revealed in real time to anyone who wants it.

The concerns are for cases where:

1. There is sensitive info on the query string
2. Security through obfuscation - uniquely named files and folders
3. Privacy concerns since these stats can be polled/refreshed and a pretty good database of activity from the server can be formed.

Apache sets a bad example, with both Apache.org and PHP.NET both being wide open. hXXp://php(dot)net/server-status or hXXp://apache(dot)org/server-status . Wired is even open, at least some of its servers. It depends on which one you hit since they are load balanced. It seems about half of them are 'open', the other half properly secured.

198

General Software Discussion / Re: ReImage: online Windows repair!

« on: February 09, 2012, 10:02 AM »

And, yes, this does, in many (or all) ways, overlap the features added in Vista to do this very thing.

-db90h (February 09, 2012, 08:40 AM)

-rubbish. System Restore will NEVER go online to replace or find files.

-Curt (February 09, 2012, 10:00 AM)

It doesn't have to, it reserves a portion of your disk space to keep old copies. But, yes, I take back 'all'.

199

Living Room / Re: New weapons in the file sharing war.

« on: February 09, 2012, 09:57 AM »

I think at 39.9hz ;p. Just kidding, I'm in my mid-thirties. Dunno if that makes me a child of the 70s, as I was too young really

-db90h (February 09, 2012, 09:25 AM)

Perhaps only "too young" in years. You have a capacity for insight into 'power politics' that Noam Chomsky would find admirable.

 

-40hz (February 09, 2012, 09:38 AM)

Well, thanks, I think . ... though maybe a bit scary that I've become so cynical so fast ;p.

200

Living Room / Re: New weapons in the file sharing war.

« on: February 09, 2012, 09:25 AM »

I think at 39.9hz ;p. Just kidding, I'm in my mid-thirties. Dunno if that makes me a child of the 70s, as I was too young really