Messages

501

LaunchBar Commander / Re: An idea for a "Toggled App" button -- thoughts?

« on: August 21, 2013, 01:08 AM »

How about instead of just open and close you could assign different options for the right and left mouse buttons when the program is running? One button could bring it to the foreground or minimize it and the other could close it.

That would be great for all kinds of programs you might just want to check periodically and then dismiss without actually exiting.

502

Living Room / Re: Groklaw shutting down because of our new US survelliance state

« on: August 21, 2013, 01:07 AM »

In light of how the psychopaths in power have spoken out against tolerating freedom of speech ( https://duckduckgo.c...gers+first+amendment ), it's understandable why some people wouldn't want to go to prison.

-Renegade (August 20, 2013, 08:04 PM)

My response to that (which also happens to reflect the last 40 years or more of Supreme Court precedent) is that bloggers aren't just covered by the First Amendment. They're the reason it exists.

The misconception that "the press" as referenced in the First Amendment refers to an elite brotherhood of so-called journalists and the media conglomerates they represent is a fiction invented whole cloth by those same people and foisted on the public as part of a legal defense strategy when the Pentagon Papers were published.

In fact those 2 words refer to nothing more or less than a printing press which merely represents the act of publication and promotion. The Press as the term is used today didn't exist when the Constitution was written. Newspaper publishing was nothing more than a side business run by the only people who happened to have printing presses. The first real newspaper in the colonies was a combination of letters that had made their way from Britain informing people of "current" events and a variety of essays - most by a teenage Benjamin Franklin.

In fact if I were to pick out a modern equivalent of that paper (or Franklin's entire career in the newspaper business) it would probably be Popehat. OTOH he was nowhere near as transparent as Ken White and the gang. Franklin had a razor sharp wit that he regularly used to ridicule Boston's public figures and ruling class until eventually his brother James, the actual owner of the shop and paper, forbid him from including his own contributions. After that he simply produced letters attributed to fictional people and even pitted them against each other to illustrate whatever point he was trying to make.

During the lead up to the revolution the British government tried to crack down on newspapers, not because they were full of journalistic exposes, but because they were filled with letters from ordinary people complaining about the government. Those complaints spread as far and wide, from city to city and even the most remote rural regions. Full aware they couldn't reach the source of the letters the British government attempted to use printing contracts as leverage to censor the printers. Government printing jobs were by far the most significant source of income for most printers by that time.

To whatever extent The Press refers to businesses or organizations it would be nothing more than ordinary printers who were being strong armed by government officials. To whatever extent we might feel the need to equate modern institutions to colonial newspapers the most accurate analog would be bloggers who speak out on matters of public interest and discussion forums like this one. Hell, 4chan has more in common with them than the New York Times or Washington Post.

It actually makes me angry every time I hear about some new "journalist shield law" or any other special rules for that particular group of special little snowflakes. Granting a small group of individuals more rights than the rest of us on the basis of their profession is blatantly unconstitutional and frankly offensive. If the editors of the Washington Post were really the public servants they claim to be they wouldn't have caved in to White House demands not to publish statements from an NSA official last week. If their goal was to hold the government accountable the complete, unedited transcript would have been on the front page of the paper, the front page of their website and in 4 foot tall letters on the side of their office building, probably with a giant middle finger on each side of it.

The fourth estate my ass!

503

General Software Discussion / Re: Chrome’s insane password security strategy

« on: August 20, 2013, 11:56 PM »

Google's response has always been the same: not interested.

-4wd (August 18, 2013, 12:27 AM)

Besides, it would be just one more thing to wring their hands over and whine about "not legally being able to talk about it" next time the NSA comes calling...

Wired's response is basically, "Shut up. This is normal."

-Renegade (August 17, 2013, 10:55 PM)

Wired is no longer Wired as many of us remember it - and hasn't been since 1998. Wired is now owned by Advance Publications and managed by their Conde Nast <*choke*> subservient subsidiary company.

Need more really be said?

 

-40hz (August 18, 2013, 11:54 AM)

The only thing Wired is much good for any more is covering issues that require membership in the International Brotherhood of Holier Than Thou Journalists because of the access and financial backing that comes along with it.

504

General Software Discussion / Re: Replacing the Control Panel

« on: August 20, 2013, 11:47 PM »

And now for something completely different... or back on topic or whatever.

I think I've tracked down what was causing the problem getting the Windows Features applet to populate. The problem appeared to be related to the process spawning the applet process (optionalfeatures.exe). I decided to use Process Explorer to get to the bottom of it and it turns out the problem is with the program itself. More specifically the problem (or maybe my system's problem) is with the 32-bit version of the EXE.

What's happening (at least today) is the 32-bit version of OptionalFeatures.exe is apparently unable to query the registry for the list of Windows features. I say apparently because the only notable difference I can find in the 2 processes is that SeCreateSymbolicLinkPrivilege is enabled for the 64-bit version but disabled for the 32-bit version. I also know that Registry Reflection was dropped for Windows 7 in favor of Registry Redirection which according to this MSDN page is accomplished via symbolic links.

Of course like any Microsoft documentation, especially dealing with the registry, the explanation just makes things more confusing. It describes registry keys as symbolic links to other registry keys which is either gibberish or a borderline criminal misuse of terminology. Presumably what they're actually describing is symbolic links somewhere below the SysWOW64 directory which refer to the registry files under System32.

In fact there don't appear to be junction points of any kind pointing to System32 registry files. That leads me to an alternate conclusion that symlinks to registry files are created on the fly when a 32-bit program accesses the keys in question and then deleted afterward. That would explain why the 32-bit applet with no symlink creation privileges wasn't able to access the necessary keys and why the list of features was never populated. It would be great if someone could definitely confirm or correct my conclusion.

Even if I'm right, though, I'm still confused. In Windows Vista I seem to recall SeCreateSymbolicLinkPrivilege being one of the privileges that UAC stripped when you weren't working in an elevated context. Then in Windows 7 they watered down UAC by whitelisting nearly every OS component so they could elevate silently and be less annoying to users. That's clearly how the 64-bit version maintains that privilege. If I set UAC to the highest setting I do, in fact, get prompted for it. However that's also true for the 32-bit version of the program. It just doesn't happen to inherit that particular privilege from my account.

Except at some point in the past - multiple points in fact - the 32-bit OptionalFeatures.exe worked perfectly for me. I'm sure it worked when I first added it to LBC. Then later I tried it again and it didn't work so I figured I was remembering wrong. I changed the command a little and got it working again, and again it stopped working later so I changed it again. I wouldn't say I fixed it since all I did was remove the .EXE extension. That fixed it again and now it's not working again. I ran the System File Checker to be safe and didn't find any problems. I'm curious to find out if anybody else has this problem or if it's just me.

What I can say is the applet runs just fine when I launch it by GUID using explorer:

Code: Text [Select]

1. explorer.exe shell:::{67718415-c450-4f3c-bf8a-b487642dc39b}

Since explorer is a 64-bit program I know the 64-bit applet will be opened. Now it would be nice to figure out why it matters and especially if it's unique to my computer. If somebody could try running the 32-bit version and let me know what happens that would be great.

Edit: It finally occurred to me to look at some other processes to get an idea about whether SeCreateSymbolicLinkPrivilege is normally enabled or disabled. The general pattern seems to be that I was right about it being enabled by Windows components you would expect to run with elevated privileges like Control Panel applets and the Windows Script Host. However that was also true of the other 32-bit applets I looked at. This definitely looks like an anomaly so now the only question seems to be whether it's the program or my computer that's off.

505

General Software Discussion / Re: Replacing the Control Panel

« on: August 20, 2013, 07:57 PM »

My brain lacks that filtering mechanism and as a result it collects as much information as I can handle. One side effect of that is an inability to recognize basic problem solving strategies. I simply have to dive in headfirst and work things out as I go. Until I get at least most of the way to the end I literally can't decide which way I'm going.

I compensate by assembling and refining complex systems in my head. At any given time at least 2 or 3 different parts of my brain are analyzing all the data that comes in from completely different perspectives. Once I've figured out the big picture I apply it to the challenge at hand and then use it to formulate a solution. And yes, it's just as complicated as it sounds whether I'm redesigning fundamental features of Windows or picking out which flavor of Linux to put on my file server. That took me about a month BTW.

-Vurbal (August 20, 2013, 01:11 PM)

Hell, with that description...I think we have the same strategy. I tend to start by overloading with insanely tangential minutia and then letting the project define itself on the fly.

-Stoic Joker (August 20, 2013, 05:32 PM)

Based on the small sampling of your posts I've read that doesn't surprise me. In fact I'd be willing to bet there are more than a few posters here with some degree of autistic dysfunction and hyper function. The low functioning part of the autistic brain is in the limbic system (particularly the amygdala) which is sort of an advisor to most processes that go on in the brain.

In addition to its significant role in memory, the amygdala is also a sort of regulator for the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for keeping most nervous system signals literally shut off most of the time so you can focus on only a handful of details. The human brain is so underpowered just processing all the information available from your eyes would be like trying to play a DVD on a 20 year old PC.

The prefrontal cortex is also responsible for shutting down purely internal signals so they don't get mixed up with each other. That way when you're taking a math test you don't accidentally write down 2+2=fish. I actually did something similar on a spelling test in 6th grade. I was always naturally gifted at spelling so I typically didn't pay a lot of attention in class. The teacher gave us a word and then used it in a sentence. Some completely different word in the sentence grabbed my attention and I wrote it down instead. On the good side I spelled it right at least. 

Those rogue brain functions are also essential to all the things I do well. Since I can't rely on my amygdala to learn like most people do I simply use other parts of my brain - especially the parts that process math and music. Other autistics (I'd bet Steve Wozniak is a textbook example) rely on their visual center. To most people language is mostly an emotional experience. For me it's part secret code and part musical composition. I break all the rules of grammar routinely and really never could keep them straight. But as I tell my daughter (a gifted writer herself), the rules are for people who can't hear the music.

506

General Software Discussion / Re: Replacing the Control Panel

« on: August 20, 2013, 01:11 PM »

@V - Certainly hope you make some money off of this when it's finished. Seems to me like a huge amount of effort being expended to reverse engineer and improve something made by a company that's notoriously tight-lipped about how their stuff actually works - and who should be doing this themselves considering what they charge for their products.
 

-40hz (August 20, 2013, 09:15 AM)

Sadly that's not likely. Like most of the things I do this has more to do with how my brain works than anything else. Like everyone with Asperger's Syndrome parts of my brain function at an above normal level which compensates for the dysfunction caused by autism. However my dysfunction is more severe and widespread than most Aspies and so are my offsetting high functions.

Think of it this way. The neurotypical brain conditions itself over time to collect only the minimum amount of information necessary for whatever task is being performed. My brain lacks that filtering mechanism and as a result it collects as much information as I can handle. One side effect of that is an inability to recognize basic problem solving strategies. I simply have to dive in headfirst and work things out as I go. Until I get at least most of the way to the end I literally can't decide which way I'm going.

I compensate by assembling and refining complex systems in my head. At any given time at least 2 or 3 different parts of my brain are analyzing all the data that comes in from completely different perspectives. Once I've figured out the big picture I apply it to the challenge at hand and then use it to formulate a solution. And yes, it's just as complicated as it sounds whether I'm redesigning fundamental features of Windows or picking out which flavor of Linux to put on my file server. That took me about a month BTW.

And to avoid demonstrating that any further I'll just add a couple links for anyone who really cares. They probably explain it much better than I possibly could anyway. Temple Grandin's explanation, in particular, is very close to my own mental process.

My mind works similar to an Internet search engine...

People With Autism Possess Greater Ability to Process Information, Study Suggests

German company trains autistic as IT specialists

507

General Software Discussion / Re: Replacing the Control Panel

« on: August 20, 2013, 07:39 AM »

If you know of one that is missing, let me know and I will research how to add it.

By the way, "God Mode" shortcuts cannot be added, or I have not found a way to do so. If someone finds a way, let me know and I will gladly make an alias file. That would be awesome since most of those shortcuts are directly to specific parts of a control panel applet!

-Josh (August 20, 2013, 06:53 AM)

Fantastic job putting those together!   

I don't think there's any way to generate a menu from the All Tasks virtual folder but I have collected a bunch of command lines for accessing quite a few of the same tabs and wizards. I should throw together a quick list and post it for anyone who's interested.

Another interesting idea would be to let LaunchBar Commander show the contents of FARR alias files directly in menus..  That would let LBC show a proper control panel menu..

-mouser (August 20, 2013, 06:55 AM)

That sounds like a great idea!

508

General Software Discussion / Re: Replacing the Control Panel

« on: August 20, 2013, 04:15 AM »

So here's the latest on my *little* project. First I've decided to add just one or 2 more items to the first phase. Due to the clumsiness of replacing the Start Menu search box with the full blown Windows Search GUI I'm going to jump right into using FARR as a replacement. Besides the minimal size, it has the advantage of having a plugin to use the Windows search index and also launch files, making it something of a replacement for the Run dialog as well. I may also mention Everything since FARR has a plugin for its index as well.

I've also come to the conclusion I really need to learn AutoHotkey because it seems to be the simplest way to integrate basic Windows dialogs and controls.

509

Living Room / Re: Maybe Not Everybody Should Learn to Code

« on: August 20, 2013, 01:58 AM »

Just the most basic things in programming are valuable lessons. Loops. Cripes! Learning about loops is a brilliant lesson in logic. I can't imagine anyone not already exposed to that coming out from it and not being better for it.

-Renegade (August 19, 2013, 09:51 PM)

In the past I've taught Digital Circuits classes at a local community college as part of a network administration AAS degree program. It's a sort of watered down version of a class I had to take myself which only the robotics/automation students take currently. My introduction to the class goes something like this.

Despite the name this is not an electronics class. Instead you should think of this as a foreign language class where you learn to speak computer. Although computers use binary numbers, their language is not binary. It's logic. If you don't understand logic computers will never make any sense. If you do understand logic, and specifically the mathematical representation of Boolean Logic you'll be surprised how many other things suddenly make a lot more sense.

510

General Software Discussion / Re: Replacing the Control Panel

« on: August 19, 2013, 06:19 PM »

Project Update:

Although I'm sticking with my broader plan in the long term, I've decided my earlier strategy of using smaller steps was the right one. In fact I'm actually going to simplify a little further for the first stage and start by just transferring core Start Menu functionality to my System Bar almost entirely as-is. That leaves me with 4 menus at the moment:

• Power: Logoff, shutdown, lock computer, and screensaver options via NirCmd.
• Command: Run, Search, Windows Explorer from the Start Menu plus a few additional nodes like Eject Device (safely remove hardware), and Volume Control along with a handful of other features provided by NirCmd. At a minimum that will include Mute/Unmute system volume, Empty Recycle Bin (NirCmd), and Refresh explorer and environment (shellrefresh / sysrefresh).
• Programs: LBC's %AllStartMenu% virtual folder menu copied from the example launchbar.
• User Files: Some combination of submenus from the MRU (Most Recently Used) plugin and the user profile special folders such as My Documents. I'm completely undecided about which items to include or not.

That still leaves the Control Panel as an open question. The example launchbar has a My Control Panel menu which covers the basics but isn't really sufficient by itself. Ideally I'd be able to simply use a shell virtual folder - shell:::{GUID} - to populate the menu. That could duplicate the Start Menu's menu view option but it's only supported for LBC's specific list of virtual folders. That's actually an improvement over most launchers.

That leaves leaves just a couple options. The simplest would be just adding a Control Panel (command) node to open it normally. I could supplement that with another command node to open the All Tasks (aka GodMode/Master Control Panel) view using explorer.

Alternatively - or even additionally - I could build a menu of Control Panel applets equivalent to the Start Menu's 'View as menu' option. The big advantage to that approach is the flexibility to hide items most people never need to see like Anytime Upgrade and CardSpace. In fact it would be easy to hide the menu entirely. The disadvantage to such a menu is that third party Control Panel applets wouldn't appear automatically. However those should be available as regular programs (from the Start Menu) anyway.

That leaves the question of using control/rundll32 for launching them vs shell virtual folders. The only real advantage I see to the first method is access to individual applet tabs. For just opening the basic applets I'm leaning toward the explorer method.

The Next Step(s)
Once I have the basics transferred to LBC I can focus on more specialized menus. The basic focus will be on replacing the Control Panel and (Start Menu) Programs options. That will include replacements for some Control Panel applets and probably also the control/rundll32 options for opening individual applet tabs. The other thing I'd like to figure out is how to get away from the actual Programs folders used to generate the Start Menu. I've had too many bad experiences with shortcuts mysteriously disappearing. That's besides the basic problem that programs without installers don't put shortcuts there to begin with.

It's simple enough to add programs to LBC but separating the programs you want to launch from various helper exe's can be indistinguishable from magic. If I could find a way to semi-automate that process and create a text file in a format supported by LBC it would be a huge improvement. It's obviously not nearly as simple as that makes it sound - but that's why it's a challenge.

While visiting the website for one CP applet alternative I've already tried (7+ Taskbar Tweaker) I actually ran across another program I'd forgotten about. The same developer (RaMMicHaeL) wrote a cool little program for running WinAPI functions as commands. It's called winapiexec. If I was an actual programmer I suspect I could solve most of my problems with it.

Then again if that were the case I could write programs to do it right. 

511

General Software Discussion / Re: Replacing the Control Panel

« on: August 19, 2013, 02:36 PM »

What are some simple command lines that would be good to have handy to have available on a basic system menu?

-Vurbal (August 16, 2013, 11:40 AM)

Have read all this with a combination of amused fascination and horror. You, sir, are a brave man.

-oblivion (August 19, 2013, 02:08 AM)

Thank you, but I suspect it's more foolish than brave.  

Is chkdsk <driveletter> /f worth including?

It's actually one of the options I've been considering but I need to figure out a way to do it in a way that it doesn't require the user to select the drive. For the drive with the Windows folder it should be as simple as using %SYSTEMDRIVE% for the drive letter. That's assuming I can work out a suitable method for entering the proper credentials dynamically as well. (more details below)

A better option would be to come up with a method for parsing the list of drives, isolating the hard drives, and presenting an option for each on the menu with a format like Check drive VolumeName [X:] for errors. It would be complicated but definitely something LaunchBar Commander should be capable of using its dynamic menu features.

Something I'd find useful -- a way to get at some of the control panel stuff when the logged-in user is restricted but I have an admin password I can run stuff as.

In these situations, I generally do runas /user:<whatever> cmd.exe and then try to remember which of the .cpls do what (control.exe whatever.cpl) since they're almost completely impossible to identify function from name. (If you don't already know, you'll never guess what main.cpl is for!) So something along the lines of what you're doing I could run from a stick and that I could fire an admin account at without having to log the user off -- now that'd be really useful

I've been toying with a couple ideas for launching items using alternate credentials. The RunAs command should do the job, but it would require coming up with a way to prompt for at least the username. That's based on memories from my WinXP sysadmin days so I could be remembering wrong or it may not work the same now.

Assuming the basic idea is sound, the next question is how to get credentials from the user. The simplest way would be a batch file or a script of some kind (WSH or PowerShell) but I'd rather not go that route for a number of reasons. There's a tool I've found which I suspect can do the job but it's a little (or a lot) over my head at the moment. More on that in a future post.

I'm also concerned about an oddity I ran into for launching the Windows Features tab directly - ie not from inside the Programs and Features applet. I posted it on the LBC forum:

Problem: Unable to get the Windows Features Control Panel to populate when launching it directly using the following rundll32.exe command:

rundll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL appwiz.cpl,,2

Solution: After a bunch of testing it appears the problem is in rundll32.exe itself. Populating the list of features is actually done by TrustedInstaller.exe which can only be run by the built-in System account. System fails to create the svchost.exe process to do this if rundll32.exe is launched by any process besides explorer.exe  (via the Run dialog) or cmd.exe (directly from the command prompt). I ran into the same problem attempting to launch it indirectly from the command prompt using NirCmd's exec feature.

As an alternative it can be launched using the built-in alias of optionalfeatures. Technically it's optionalfeatures.exe, but it only seems to work in LBC if I leave off the .exe file extension and doesn't even work with that syntax when launching via NirCmd exec.

The continued use of main.cpl for the Mouse applet is a perfect example of why Windows is such a mess. Whatever the specifics, improvement is change. If you prioritize minimizing change ahead of improvements, as Microsoft always has, you end up with kludges instead of fixes. When you start building on kludges you end up relying on even more kludges until eventually they're the rule rather than the exception.

In the case of today's Windows that goes all the way back to the core Windows NT architecture. Compatibility with DOS-based (Win9x) code required a tangled mess of kludges. Eventually Windows either needs a complete reboot (no pun intended) like Apple did with OS X or it's not going to be around in the not too distant future.

For my part I've decided to ignore the gaping hole in the Titanic's hull and focus on rearranging the deck chairs.  

512

Living Room / Re: Google Goes Dark for Two Minutes. Panic Ensues.

« on: August 17, 2013, 06:47 PM »

Google really adds no value to any site for any user.

-Renegade (August 17, 2013, 12:19 PM)

Umm ok. That's quite a blanket (and silly) statement.

513

Living Room / Re: Knight to queen's bishop 3 - Snowden charged with espionage.

« on: August 17, 2013, 03:08 PM »

That WSJ artice basically matches my observations going back all the way to the previous administration. I think it can be largely explained by the similarities between the 2 presidents. Because lacked significant experience navigating the Washington political environment so both chose running mates who were established power players with a lot of history as Congressional power players from the period when the lobbyists basically infiltrated the legislative process in the 80s and 90s.

The initial change started in the early 80s. Lobbyists focused largely on Republicans who were desperate to get control of Congress. That finally happened in the mid-90s. They came in with the goal of passing as much legislation as possible in the shortest amount of time. The only way to accomplish that was bringing in outside help to quickly author complex bills and rally support. The same corporate allies who helped them modernize the party's campaign strategies were right there volunteering to do the same for the day to day operations.

Even as recently as Clinton, though, they hadn't gained a foothold in the White House. They were writing most of the laws and directing votes but for the most part their direct influence stopped there. When Dick Cheney became Vice President he brought them along for the ride. His primary corporate allegiance was to the defense industry and the current dominance of the intelligence contracting industry reflects that. I'm sure he was also instrumental in the general atmosphere of former corporate executives almost entirely taking over as government regulators.

Obama had the same problem and his solution was Joe Biden. Not by coincidence when Biden became Vice President the intellectual property interests he represented in Congress got their own private police force spread throughout the Justice Department and Homeland Security. He also had strong ties to the intelligence community so naturally their expansion into the executive branch continued as well.

At this point the question is whether change comes before we hit rock bottom or after. The more top heavy the economy gets, the faster the end comes. At the rate we're going I'd say rock bottom is within the next 5 years, probably the next 2-3.

514

Living Room / Re: Scandalous Intel

« on: August 17, 2013, 02:13 PM »

I doubt anyone would be that foolish to screw with the mobile market. It's too big, too profitable, and there's too much scrutiny in it. The desktop market is by comparison a bastard, red-headed, deformed stepchild that the industry pundits prefer to ignore. Well, you know what I mean. They pay lip service once in a while, but the desktop is mostly ignored. The mobile market profit margins are insane. Nobody will screw with that for now, or at least until mobile hardware becomes a commodity, which the industry is colluding together to prevent from happening. And yes... it is a conspiracy to milk you of as much $$$ as possible. Look into it. Don't believe me. Check for yourself.

-Renegade (August 17, 2013, 11:43 AM)

Shorter processor lifespans would be disastrous for their OEM customers. One of the reasons people are willing to pay so much for high end laptops is their lifespan and resale value on the used market. Low end laptops are practically disposable and their price reflects that.

515

Living Room / Re: *Email privacy and security survey*

« on: August 17, 2013, 01:49 PM »

The other side of the problem is the solution providers. As someone has already noted, self signed security like PGP can be hard to trust but third party providers are inherently risky as well. Even if they're trustworthy, they represent single points of vulnerability which can impact everybody everywhere. A web of trust is the only solution to both problems but it needs to involve the industry players as well.

-Vurbal (August 17, 2013, 11:06 AM)

And that's EXACTLY why I'm hopeful for Bitmessage to sort its problems and enter the arena of strong encryption that we can trust.
 

-Renegade (August 17, 2013, 11:32 AM)

That's exactly what I'm talking about.    Services like that are also important because if/when they become successful there's another piece of the roadmap for developing other services.

I also think the more small to medium size players we have trying to gain a foothold in the enterprise market, the more we'll see business models catering to both individuals and business. A company like Comodo benefits most from expanding the market and stimulating competition. A company like Verisign or Microsoft benefits most from controlling the market and maintaining the status quo.

This is the biggest problem right now.

While I *could* get it working for *ME*... doesn't mean jack if other people aren't on board.

The barrier is a function of difficulty, tech savviness, broad adoption, and willingness to use it. And willingness is a function of "how damn long will this take me to get it running, and who can I use it with?" Blah blah, etc. etc.

I've had a bitch of a time trying to get other people to use Jitsi with me. So far I've got 1 (one) friend to use Jitsi with me. And half the time we end up on Skype. Jitsi is great, but it ain't prime time yet.

Yep. And that's where people like me fit into the picture. Without users who are at least reasonably competent how can developers get useful feedback? There's just too much trial and error on both sides which can only be solved if they meet in the middle. Lots of developers are already there waiting. The public, on the other hand, needs some herding.

Then there's email... hopeless. It's just total dog s4!+.

It's not just email either. To paraphrase one of my favorite (made up) Einstein quotes, we cannot solve our problems using the same thinking that created them.

Email, passwords, and even independent security authorities are obsolete. They're modeled on outdated corporate processes and technical limitations that no longer apply. Building replacements requires a completely different perspective based on current needs and technology. It's sort of like the transition from horseless carriages to cars.

516

Living Room / Re: *Email privacy and security survey*

« on: August 17, 2013, 11:06 AM »

There are a couple big problems the way I see it, and they're not specific to email. The first is simplicity and useability. For ordinary people something like PGP is obviously way too complicated - not because it's actually that hard but because it has the appearance of difficulty. Honestly, though, even something relatively simple like just going to Comodo and getting a free SSL certificate is just as intimidating.

I consider myself something of an expert on this particular subject. Most complex software is well within the grasp of most people but people like me who are good at both understanding and explaining it are few and far between. I don't know what the answer to that one is besides just keep doing what I do.

The other side of the problem is the solution providers. As someone has already noted, self signed security like PGP can be hard to trust but third party providers are inherently risky as well. Even if they're trustworthy, they represent single points of vulnerability which can impact everybody everywhere. A web of trust is the only solution to both problems but it needs to involve the industry players as well.

At the end of the day it probably comes down to mindset. Even if you don't give a rat's ass about anybody else, the less secure everybody else's systems are, the more vulnerable yours is. It needs to start by picking off the low hanging fruit by establishing some kind of reasonable baseline.

There are a lot of things I think go into that, but the first one is this. At least when it comes to getting the message out to the masses, we need to stop talking about security and start talking about privacy. Mention security and most people will tune you out before you start the next sentence. Say privacy - especially right now - and you've got people's attention. They neither want nor need to know the big picture. They just need to know how to do their part to protect themselves so we can focus on taking the next step.

517

LaunchBar Commander / Re: Icon problems with FileContents nodes

« on: August 17, 2013, 01:16 AM »

I guess I realized that from looking at the saved files. And yeah, being at the whim of Windows always means you'll run into one ridiculous assumption or another.

One of the biggest challenges I've been running into lately is things that work completely differently depending on the parent process. If it's launched from the Run command or command prompt (explorer or cmd) it does one thing but if you try to run the same thing from a program like LBC or NirCmd it does something else. Or in the case of symlinks to EXE files it works from the command line (or so I've read) but doesn't work from explorer.

It's my own fault for sticking with Windows.

518

LaunchBar Commander / Re: Icon problems with FileContents nodes

« on: August 17, 2013, 12:45 AM »

That's what I was saying before. I assumed it was a file system function and the behavior was out of your/my hands.

One thing I'm curious about, though. It doesn't affect image files selected for a regular node (like a command or menu for example). Does that use the same code or does that use something else that's not compatible with FileContents nodes for whatever reason?

519

LaunchBar Commander / Re: Icon problems with FileContents nodes

« on: August 16, 2013, 11:52 PM »

It works properly using the /ico switch with EXE icons. That makes sense because it displays the icon correctly when I don't use the /icon switch at all and the EXE file being launched has its own embedded icon.

For ICO or PNG files I get the odd behavior when anything but Windows Photo Viewer is the default for that particular extension.

The switch doesn't appear to support DLL files - at least not using the filename;# references I copied from regular LBC nodes. Not a big deal since I don't use icons on most of my menu items anyway.

520

Living Room / Re: Please help superboyac build a server (2013 edition).

« on: August 16, 2013, 10:38 PM »

I'm getting excited...I don't know why I love storage so much.  I must be like a virtual packrat or something.

-superboyac (August 16, 2013, 06:22 PM)

Could be part of it.

But servers are cool tools. Period. I love 'em.

Having one of your very own opens up so many possibilities beyond just a desktop that it's a rush for most people.
 

-40hz (August 16, 2013, 08:24 PM)

Even an ancient server like my dual P3 Intel white box just gives off a different vibe than a desktop between the 10,000RPM SCSI drives that sound like miniature jet turbines when they spin up and the fans you can hear from the next room. OTOH it's damn annoying when I'm making a desktop capture video and have to shut it down to get rid of the background noise. 

I thought about putting a window air conditioner and wall mount server rack in the closet to contain it but the closet isn't deep enough.

521

Living Room / Re: *Email privacy and security survey*

« on: August 16, 2013, 04:33 PM »

I use Thunderbird and have Enigmail installed and configured. However there aren't too many circumstances when it's actually useful. Only 2 people I communicate with via email use it themselves.

One of them always signs his emails - not surprising since he also wrote and administered the first public PGP keyserver. I don't encrypt emails I send to him, but I do sign them.

The other is Mike Masnick. I've started encrypting all my messages to him just because I figure he's pissed the NSA off so much they probably read his email on general principle. I'm not sending anything I expect them to care about, but that's sort of the point. If there's even an outside chance they will waste resources cracking the encryption it seems like the responsible thing to do.

522

LaunchBar Commander / Re: Icon problems with FileContents nodes

« on: August 16, 2013, 04:06 PM »

set using the /icon argument.

i was just about to tell you that you were imagining some feature in LBC regarding this mystery /ICON switch.. but then it occurred to me to read the help file for my application and it turns out there is such a thing after all.

i will see if i can find the issue, it sounds like it should be pretty simple -- it sounds like it's using the file extension only to look up the icon.

-mouser (August 16, 2013, 12:56 PM)

Heh. That's the problem with being able to write code in your sleep. You might not remember it when you wake up. 

However as I said it works fine as long as I don't change the file association from the Windows default. I suspect you're using a Windows API function that relies on Photo Editor and just assumes nobody will change it. Nonsensical assumptions are the building blocks of Windows after all.

523

General Software Discussion / Re: Replacing the Control Panel

« on: August 16, 2013, 11:40 AM »

Okay, here's an easier question if only to prove I actually have those from time to time. 

What are some simple command lines that would be good to have handy to have available on a basic system menu? Mostly I'm thinking about basic maintenance tools which don't need any user input. The first one that came to mind was the System File Checker (sfc /scannow). I'm sure there are others but nothing comes immediately to mind.

Power user commands or tools (the kind most users shouldn't touch in the first place) will also be getting their own submenu. Or maybe even just a separate base menu altogether that's not visible by default. Suggestions along those lines would also be useful.

For right now I'm going to rebuild the LBC configuration and then I'll post some screenshots to provide some context for what I'm doing.

524

Living Room / Re: Gadget WEEKENDS

« on: August 16, 2013, 11:25 AM »

Got a KVM switch so I could switch between an old and new machine while using same monitor, keyboard, speakers:

http://www.amazon.co...S932UB/dp/B002TQYSN8

(see attachment in previous post)

The darn thing actually works (surprised me)!

-mouser (August 16, 2013, 05:33 AM)

KVMs rock! I had a 2-port and a 4-port KVM that I used to use years ago, but I only use 1 or 2 and rarely 3 computers now, and use Synergy - a software KVM. Different use cases though. But they're not DVI... both VGA.

At the moment, my current plan for my next machine is a server running a virtual environment and then VMs running inside. A different way to get around the issue of multiple machines.

-Renegade (August 16, 2013, 09:57 AM)

If I ever get around to it that's the plan for my Linux server - most likely using Turnkey Linux.

I really need to get an actual KVM for my workbench, though, which is actually an old microwave cart that sits next to my desk. Currently I have a sort of manual KVM setup. I have a second video cable running from the VGA port on my monitor, a USB sharing switch connected to my wireless keyboard receiver. The mouse is a lot clunkier. I have a pair of the USB extension cables from old Logitech wireless mice that have a base to plug the dongle into. When I switch between computers I have to physically unplug the dongle from one and plug it into the other or just stick with the keyboard.

It's kludgy but not bad for a bunch of pieces I just had laying around. Still annoying, though, especially since I have to unplug the second set of cables from my server to use it on the workbench. A 3 machine KVM would be so much more convenient.

525

Living Room / Re: Please help superboyac build a server (2013 edition).

« on: August 15, 2013, 11:41 PM »

FWIW, Microsoft's tech support is very good for all their server products. Very professional and quite different than the support offered for their desktop OS.

-40hz (August 15, 2013, 11:01 PM)

That matches my experience as well. Their server support team is very serious about making sure your problem gets fixed. In fact a Novell admin I used to know who managed systems for a number of companies (banks mostly) and really disliked MS servers had horror stories about Novell support and nothing but good things to say about dealing with Microsoft.