Messages

9126

Living Room / Re: Why do we always wait for apple's stuff before making a i[blank]-killer??

« on: June 06, 2010, 04:35 PM »

e.g. Apple can polish a turd and their drove of fawning accolades will flock in mass (like lemming) to buy the silly POS. While the rest of the industry is stuck doing things the old fashioned way - Trying to come up with a useful product that people actually need.

-Stoic Joker (June 06, 2010, 12:13 AM)

I think that there is a fundamental difference between companies like Apple and Sony.

Sony is a consumer electronics company.

Apple is a religion cult.

Seriously.

Apple is very far from being the innovator that the fanboys tout it to be. Apple is good at 1 thing, and 1 thing only. It takes good ideas that failed, repackages them in a super-sexy outfit, then pimps them out to its followers.

The tablet isn't new. The iPad is just a tablet with better marketing to the Cult of Apple followers, and those that are wannabe cult members.

-Renegade (June 06, 2010, 03:01 AM)

If so, then why do so many non Apple people that I personally know 'get it' as far as the iPad is concerned?  It's not a cult thing- it's a usability thing.  I know a guy who already has a Kindle, a Zune, a non iPhone, a netbook... and was not going to get an iPad.  He had no intentions.

Then he used it.  Now he has one.

And I've seen that story over and over again.  Indeed, as I said, I plan to get one myself.

There are cult-ish Apple afficionados just as there are cult-ish windows people, etc.  But if you can market to the non-cult members, doesn't that say that there might be something more than you're seeing from the surface?

9127

Living Room / Re: Honestly, who here actually owns an iPad? be honest!

« on: June 06, 2010, 03:28 PM »

It's a tool... if it works for your workflow and you can see it being a boon, then why let the naysayers dissuade you?  And if you don't see it working for you, why let the hype persuade you?  Some people will see a use for it, some won't.  Personally, after looking at it and truthfully evaluating it, it will really help.

So it's not about courage, it's about pragmatism.

9128

Living Room / Re: Honestly, who here actually owns an iPad? be honest!

« on: June 06, 2010, 12:23 PM »

As I said in another thread, I plan to get one- just don't have the funds yet.

9129

Living Room / Re: Kickstarter

« on: June 05, 2010, 09:17 PM »

I've supported several projects there... some really good stuff if you're into RPGs, as a couple of my favorite authors regularly put projects there.

9130

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Sins of a Solar Empire - 80% off

« on: May 29, 2010, 04:02 PM »

I think that's because of the sale this weekend.

9131

Living Room / Re: Watch out for your Gaming Credentials

« on: May 28, 2010, 09:32 PM »

That whole social values thing really is jagged at the moment. After all, it's just a *GAME*... Or it's taken on a new role/aspect/meaning now?

-Renegade (May 28, 2010, 05:37 PM)

From my perspective, there's two types of people that would want to buy gold/accounts for a serious amount of money.
1. Those looking to have a huge e-peen without the investment to actually progress in the games
2. Those who don't have the time to amass the money in game, but would rather enjoy the game, not as another job.

Those in category (1) are willing to pay exorbitant prices for the sake of bragging and pwning others.  Those in category (2) are willing to supplement their game with real money, because money=time.  When you break it down like that, it's easy to see that the monetization of such services would very easily make you a lot of money- that's one of the reason why the social games make so much money.

9132

Living Room / Re: Power corrupts... and absolute power...

« on: May 28, 2010, 02:31 PM »

If you believe Google's explanation of events - and I have no reason not to since they *volunteered* this information <snip />

-JavaJones (May 28, 2010, 01:41 PM)

Volunteered under what pressures?  If there was no pressure for the incident to be known, then why would Google even say anything about the issue?  That doesn't seem very savvy for a company that's seen how these things play out.  Who wouldn't doubt that the release of such information would lead to the quagmire that currently exists?

9133

Living Room / Watch out for your Gaming Credentials

« on: May 28, 2010, 10:49 AM »

An operation of this level is pretty scary.  Let's you know how profitable the gold seller/account seller enterprise is.

http://www.bluesnews...n-gaming-credentials

They say there are credentials for at least 18 gaming websites in the database, an inventory including about 210,000 World of Warcraft accounts, 60,000 Aion accounts, 2 million PlayNC accounts, and 16 million Wayi Entertainment accounts.

I wish more companies would go with an authenticator like Blizzard does.  I just got back into WoW, and the inconvenience of using their iPhone app to get a unique key is definitely more than made up for by the fact that it's quite harder to crack my account, even if you have my password.

9134

Living Room / Power corrupts... and absolute power...

« on: May 28, 2010, 10:44 AM »

Maybe their power isn't absolute yet, but if it was, I shudder to see what they'd be like then.

Google faces German Street View data blunder deadline.

True, the people were idiots for having insecure wi-fi.  Or were they?  Do we know that these weren't HotSpots at cafe's an the like?  But no matter what, heads should roll over at google for this if the harvesting was truly unauthorised.  But, I think that's a CYA move.  What knucklehead gathers info over open wi-fi while taking video/pictures for a google initiative unless it's authorised at some level?

Of course, the EFF does have a point about the turning over of the data:

"To allow a government to investigate a privacy breach by further violating privacy is senseless."

9135

Living Room / American Express Might Not Be Encrypting Your Credit Card Number Online

« on: May 28, 2010, 10:38 AM »

Are you kidding me?  I'm so glad I don't have an AmEx card...

http://thenextweb.co...mal-online-security/

9136

Found Deals and Discounts / Name your own price on Caster until Monday 5/31

« on: May 28, 2010, 10:38 AM »

I'd heard of it, but wasn't really interested.  Actually, I'm still only mildly interested, but I like to support developers when they take a chance on this model.

http://www.elecorn.com/caster3d/

Only until Monday, so if you're interested, check it out.

UPDATE: I hate case sensitivity on urls...

9137

What's the Best? / Re: What's the best: Wiki Host?

« on: May 28, 2010, 09:22 AM »

You could also look at standard hosting- many of them include a package that installs more than one, and then you have a bit more control without having to pigeonhole yourself for the future.

I use liquidweb for my linux hosting, and they use Fantastico, which has options to install TikiWiki or PhpWiki automatically, along with several other options.


I use PmWiki personally, and a couple of sites that have that as a wiki hosting option:
http://www.sitegroun...m/pmwiki-hosting.htm
http://www.maiahost..../PmWiki_Hosting.html

9138

General Software Discussion / Re: Do you know a free HTML editor with real time preview in adjacent pane?

« on: May 28, 2010, 09:15 AM »

good to see that you've found an editor that suits your needs. got to bookmark CoffeeCup myself. btw, i didn't know about Trellian's bad reputation, i wonder why it got flagged at WOT.

-lanux128 (May 25, 2010, 08:42 PM)

9139

General Software Discussion / Re: Can I replace .NET with Mono (or anything)?

« on: May 27, 2010, 01:08 PM »

I don't believe this is exactly correct, and I didn't see anywhere in the link that would change my mind.  However, I am open to more information proving me wrong if this is indeed the case.

From my understanding, if you use Mono, SOME .Net developed applications *Should* work, though compatability is far from complete.  Moreover, as an OSS implimentation, it is by design at least a generation behind .Net development. 

-steeladept (May 27, 2010, 12:22 PM)

They soft shoe what's required.

Read http://mono-project.com/FAQ:_General

Then go to the link that leads to the Mono Migration Analyzer (http://mono-project.com/Moma)

Look at this part explicitly:

The Mono Migration Analyzer (MoMA) tool helps you identify issues you may have when porting your .Net application to Mono.

If it will truly run compiled binaries (which would require that it usurp the linkings between the code and the .NET libraries) then why the word port?  I haven't tested it, but from everything I understand, they have the libraries to allow applications to utilize Mono, but it isn't merely a swap of the frameworks.

9140

General Software Discussion / Re: Can I replace .NET with Mono (or anything)?

« on: May 27, 2010, 12:09 PM »

Mono is an OSS implementation of the .NET framework, so that developers can develop applications using .NET architecture without the .NET framework (and so that they can be cross platform).  If a developer uses mono to develop, then mono will be the framework that you have to deploy.  If a developer uses .net to develop, then .net will be the framework that you have to deploy.

For more information, see http://en.wikipedia..../Mono_%28software%29

9141

DC Gamer Club / Re: Valve: "Mac is 5 times more stable than windows running games"

« on: May 27, 2010, 10:37 AM »

5 times more stable?  Not 4 or 6?  Or maybe 4.997?  I hate statements that try to apply an obviously subjective number to a non-empirical statement.

9142

Found Deals and Discounts / ShopperPress on BitsDuJour

« on: May 26, 2010, 08:15 AM »

http://www.bitsdujou...press-shopping-cart/

I was really impressed with the overview and the responsiveness of the developer.  I haven't actually tried it yet, but did jump on the discount.  I know some people here have some commercial interests, and this seems like it would be a boon in the laborious details of setting up a store...

Now I wish I had purchased that box shot editor when it was available- all of this software towards getting in gear with my MiniISV motivates me...

9143

General Software Discussion / Re: church song software

« on: May 26, 2010, 08:12 AM »

Oh, I realize that Cpilot.  But out of 215,000 members and I am the only one who has an interest in something like this?  This forum gets a lot of posts for many different types of software, why not some church software too.  Besides its not like it is related to a certain denomination. 

-techidave (May 26, 2010, 05:46 AM)

No, not the only one.   Thanks for the heads-up!

9144

General Software Discussion / Re: a copy of Motherboard Monitor?

« on: May 24, 2010, 01:26 PM »

http://en.wikipedia..../Motherboard_Monitor

Motherboard Monitor is a utility designed by Alexander Van Kaam for Microsoft Windows that provides live information about the state of a motherboard and other hardware, including temperatures, voltages, fan speeds, and more.

On July 6, 2004, it was announced that development on Motherboard Monitor has been stopped. However on September 13, 2006, a new update (Update 2) was released adding slightly more compatibility with new motherboards.

Current alternatives to Motherboard Monitor include SpeedFan and Core Temp.

9145

Living Room / Re: Apple acquires music service Lala

« on: May 22, 2010, 06:34 PM »

But when they do it, don't they have to give you the chance to opt-out?

-wraith808 (May 19, 2010, 01:47 PM)

No, because the words Stoic Joker just typed are usually followed by words that mean essentially: We reserve to change this EULA without having to notify anybody of anything anytime anywhere.

-Innuendo (May 22, 2010, 05:32 PM)

Well then why do certain services pop up the EULA to get you to agree to additions/changes, and other don't?  iTunes does it quite a bit... it would seem that if your agreement was in perpetuity that they wouldn't have to show you; it would fall to you to read it periodically or something (which seems quite wrong).  Somehow, I get the feeling that it's not as black and white as that (though I could very well be wrong).

9146

Living Room / Re: Pac-man at Google Search...

« on: May 21, 2010, 02:14 PM »

It's to celebrate the anniversary, and the fact that I only found out about 10 minutes to go shows how little I use the google homepage now, I suppose.  But well done, Google!

9147

Living Room / Re: GPS Unit Recommendations?

« on: May 21, 2010, 07:37 AM »

This is a real problem. GPS as a driving navigation device needs to live up to the kinds of standards set in the automotive industry. While you can't expect 100%, expecting more than 50% of trips to be trouble-free isn't unreasonable.

The main problem I see is that for unfamiliar places, this is where you need the GPS to be accurate and need it to to be responsive. You just can't stop in the middle of traffic because your GPS unit is slow and you've already missed 2 turns because of it. You'd quickly find out what road rage is like on the receiving end. Steering you wrong is simply a hazard. Especially in heavy traffic where you need to be paying attention to the road, and not constantly glancing at the GPS while you wait for it to update because you're now hopelessly lost.

Common sense can't help you in some of those driving situations (I take it that you mean you need to use common sense to know that the unit will make mistakes for things like out of date maps, etc.). The only thing you can do is to make sure that you prioritize your driving and get ready to suck up the GPS unit's mistakes. I'm just tired of sucking it up for half all the trips I need it for.

-Renegade (May 21, 2010, 06:31 AM)

It really also depends on where you are- GPS reception isn't 100% accurate and maps can be out of date, or just not cover areas, or have inbuilt mistakes in them (at one time, the GPS wouldn't even take you to my house, but to another place).  It's just like cell service in a lot of ways, where you have to make allowances to use the service (or not) in areas until the technology gets better.  And sometimes, while our expectations may seem reasonable to the user, they aren't reasonable given the technologies, IME.

9148

Living Room / Re: Apple won't take cash for iPads

« on: May 20, 2010, 03:29 PM »

The iPhone works the same way. The only app I knew that let you circumvent iTunes and load files directly was Stanza. The last update to Stanza removed that capability "to comply with Apple's app policies."

-40hz (May 20, 2010, 03:12 PM)

You can work with the iPhone without using iTunes- my wife never synced her phone until she needed to upgrade the OS, and she had tons of music and apps on there.  She just connected via WiFi (had to use an appstore account, but no itunes).  I also use a few apps that let you load files directly currently- they just temporarily turn the device into a webserver/ftp server.

I wonder would it be possible to jailbreak from the start, and never use itunes or an apple account at all... I know the phone is useable without an apple id, as I used it after I purchased it from best buy before I ever synced it...

9149

Living Room / Re: Apple won't take cash for iPads

« on: May 20, 2010, 02:11 PM »

^ I didn't see the part about the activating online account (it wasn't in the ABC article).  Where is that?  And why do you need any online account to use an iPad?

9150

Living Room / Re: GPS Unit Recommendations?

« on: May 20, 2010, 12:20 PM »

Yes. I want one for the car. The TomTom is just garbage. It's simply unreliable and dangerous to use.

-Renegade (May 20, 2010, 10:16 AM)

Why do you say that?  I'm just curious... we've had a garmin and now a tomtom, and my wife has had no problem with either.

UPDATE: Never mind.  I read the review (duh).  But, like I said, my wife loves her new TomTom.