Messages

151

Non-Windows Software / Re: Dan Gilmor on moving to Linux

« on: March 07, 2016, 01:40 PM »

@Innuendo

Steam for Linux has been available for quite awhile now. But just because Steam is available doesn't mean everything has been ported over to run on Linux by the authors of the software.

-40hz (March 05, 2016, 02:59 PM)

Steam being on Linux means next to nothing without the games being there as it's only a distribution platform, and Gabe Newell knows this, and as such, is championing that effort.  I could be wrong, but I think that's what Innuendo was referring to- especially since he brought up Fallout 4 which is noticeably not on Linux.

https://www.reddit.c...t_4_any_hope_for_us/

The fight doesn't stop with the distribution platform being there.  Gabe Newell still fights behind the scenes to bring parity.  But it's a hard fight.

-wraith808 (March 06, 2016, 02:31 PM)

More like a losing battle IMO. With development costs being what they are today, I can't see too many programming shops that would be willing to spend that sort of money rolling their wares out to run native on Linux, even if they could. The industry leader always creates a gravity well it's difficult to escape from.

152

Non-Windows Software / Re: Dan Gilmor on moving to Linux

« on: March 07, 2016, 01:36 PM »

The funny thing is that we from "the Nix community" (not "Nux"...) never make similar experiences. Must be you.

-Tuxman (March 05, 2016, 03:12 PM)

Yet another "in character" comeback from DC's one and only Tuxman.

P.S. Nice to know you speak for the entire "Nix not Nux" community. I like that royal "we."

I must have missed the memo announcing your recent elevation. My bad. 

153

Non-Windows Software / Re: Dan Gilmor on moving to Linux

« on: March 05, 2016, 03:05 PM »

Well the delivery of malware is by and large a Linux issue, now of course the user executes it on his/her local Windows machine but still.

-rgdot (March 05, 2016, 11:35 AM)

How so?

154

Non-Windows Software / Re: Dan Gilmor on moving to Linux

« on: March 05, 2016, 02:59 PM »

@Innuendo

Steam for Linux has been available for quite awhile now. But just because Steam is available doesn't mean everything has been ported over to run on Linux by the authors of the software.

Re: the flame war

What set off the OS flame war was Steve Ballmer calling Linux un-American, anti-business, and the equivalent of malware in response to its own user's complaints about the numerous performance and technical issues that plagued Windows 8.

When Linux began to be seen as a viable alternative by many in the tech community, Microsoft responded with a full court smear campaign that was heavy on FUD and short on substance.  They also threatened legal action for a variety of nonsensical reasons - and pushed for government intervention in halting the "threat" that Linux and FOSS posed to the community at large.

Any explosive responses from the Linux community were in direct response to that rather than simple snark since Microsoft made no bones about their intent to either co-opt Linux and GNU, or litigate /legislate it out of existence by any means necessary.

The Linux camp has always argued for peaceful coexistence. Microsoft has always refused to do anything to facilitate that happening in a meaningful and practical manner - despite their repeated token assurances that their intentions are nothing like what their actions indicate their goal truly is.

If the Nix community sees fit to call bullshit on Microsoft, and publicly question the intelligence of those Windows users who continue to make excuses for Microsoft, about all I can suggest is some Windows users learn to grow a thicker skin. Lord knows the Linux community has been forced to do just that in the wake of Microsoft's unilateral declaration of war - and the ongoing disinformation campaign that continues to be conducted against it by the corporation and its shills in the tech press.

Linux is easy to use by anyone with enough intelligence to use Windows or any other OS. If people choose not to see or believe that, then so be it.
 

155

General Software Discussion / Re: Need help with a Win 10 security/permission issue affecting apps

« on: March 04, 2016, 09:24 PM »

I was just talking with someone about something like this.  When he was running with a particular bit set, certain things would not run (Calc, Edge, others), but with it not set, he couldn't do things as an admin.  It was in the policy editor... but I can't find it right now.  I know that's pretty vague, but maybe someone else knows exactly what I'm talking about?

-wraith808 (March 04, 2016, 04:10 PM)

Interesting! And yeah, a policy change somewhere could be causing some of this. I'll have to go digging and see what I can find. Thx for the suggestion. 

156

General Software Discussion / Re: Need help with a Win 10 security/permission issue affecting apps

« on: March 04, 2016, 09:21 PM »

Create a second user on the machine, log in as that user, and see if the behavior continues or disappears. Then you know if it's a system level or user (profile) level issue.

I've seen corrupt profiles do all kinds of silly shit.

-Stoic Joker (March 04, 2016, 02:51 PM)

Good suggestion. But I logged in using my admin level account on the machine as well as the client's account and got the same result. Running under the machine's admin account and everything is fine. Hmm...

On the off chance it's something that hit both profiles simultaneously, I will try creating an additional new admin account and see if that cures the problem. Because at this point I'm willing to try anything.

Much appreciated. 

157

General Software Discussion / Need help with a Win 10 security/permission issue affecting apps

« on: March 04, 2016, 12:21 PM »

Hi gang!

Ok...I have a very technically savvy client who is running into an odd problem.

His PC is running Windows 10 and he's very much a cloud convert. He has subscriptions to both Office 360 and Adobe Creative Cloud.

Recently, he's running into an unusual anomaly. Apps that normally worked just fine under his regular user login are now requiring they be run as administrator. If the admin option is not used on launch they exhibit strange behaviors that range from having program features not working properly all the way up to refusals to load. And the number of apps affected seems to be growing.

The initial problem showed up with Timeslips which suddenly would only run as administrator. But the current biggest issue is with Adobe Acrobat Pro. If not invoked with admin privileges, scanning from within the app only generates solid black squares instead of normal scans. This happens with two different scanners.

Both scanners are fully functional with up to date drivers. And both work correctly with PaperPort - so it's not a hardware issue. And a complete de-install of both the scanners and Adobe software followed by clean reinstalls does not correct the problem. Nor does shutting off everything else that's running in the background help. So that likely rules out a software conflict too.

Win 10 is fully updated and checks out fine. No issues reported in the logs kept by event manager. And I don't see anything odd happening in task manager while Acrobat is launching or running.

And to anticipate the next question, multiple scans have detected no rootkits, malware or similiar baddies lurking in the background.

Adobe tech support is at a loss and is now pointing the finger at Microsoft and the two scanner manufacturers - who are pointing the finger (IMO correctly) right back at Adobe in the usual circlejerk pas de deux we all know and love. To the scanner makers and Microsoft's credit, they did put in significant effort to see if they could figure out what's up. But they were able to spot nada after several hours all in.

So...

I'm guessing there's a recent security update in Windows that may be causing the problem for software that's operating somewhat off the reservation Microsoft has decreed it remain on under Win 10. Aggravating the situation is the fact that the Adobe software is still 32-bit, which I know can cause permission issues for some apps.

As I said, this problem started roughly around the 25th of February for this particular person. And he hasn't done anything out of the ordinary. So I'm left to conclude whatever changed took place in the background following an update to the OS.

Has anybody seen this sort of thing happen? Or have any suggestions of where to look next? Because for once, I'm completely stumped - along with Microsoft, Brother, Adobe and Cannon apparently. I'd rather not have to go through the finger exercise of doing a complete reformat and reinstall of everything on the off chance heroics will fix the issue. So any input on how to fix this based on your your collective expertise would be greatly appreciated. Thankee! 

158

Living Room / Re: Do we have any musical people on DC?

« on: March 04, 2016, 12:18 AM »

I found this flat out fascinating...

Craig Leon, famous for his work with The Ramones and Blondie, as well as his work in the classical arena with such leading artists as Luciano Pavarotti, Joshua Bell and Sir James Galway, talks about the inspiration behind and the process of creating his latest record: "Bach to Moog."

In 1968, the album ‘Switched On Bach’ inspired many musicians of the time to explore the wondrous new world of synthesized music making. This ground-breaking album was the first ever to take standard classical repertoire and interpret it solely on a device which generated new sounds electronically. Although there had been research and sonic experiments earlier, it was after this breakthrough release that the synthesizer entered the mainstream of modern experimental and pop music recording.

As a welcome extension to the synthesized exploration of Bach’s music and the many creative opportunities that opened up 50 years ago, ‘Bach to Moog’ album integrates the Moog modular synthesizer into the orchestra as a solo instrument, in ensemble and also as a processor of other instruments.

159

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« on: March 03, 2016, 07:20 PM »

Snarky Puppy continues unabated with Family Dinner Volume 2...

Love this whole DVD. 

160

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« on: March 03, 2016, 07:19 PM »

I just came across this:


Wintergatan - Marble Machine (music instrument using 2000 marbles)

-Deozaan (March 02, 2016, 11:56 PM)

Utterly insane! I love it!!!!

161

Non-Windows Software / Re: Dan Gilmor on moving to Linux

« on: February 27, 2016, 04:38 PM »

40hz, that's a very well-written response to the topic & very logical. Unfortunately, people are not logical creatures. Once you take away all the people who are actually interested in technology for technology's sake, a person's tendency towards using an OS is going to really boil down to inertia.

-Innuendo (February 27, 2016, 09:55 AM)

I will certainly agree with you on those points. Probably the only reason I did my earlier brain-dump is because I'm so tired of all the faux controversy surrounding the whole "I use Windows"/"I use Linux" argument. But I take comfort in the fact that most of the bickering has mercifully dropped off a great deal in the last few years. Mainly because it's now obvious it's pointless. They've both attained parity by any reasonable measure you'd care to apply. So to a very real extent it doesn't much matter at all what bloody OS or app suite you use. The only difficulty comes in when you're discussing standards. And as one person pointed out (I forget who) the one really good thing about 'standards' is we get so many to choose from.

IMO, about the only real dividing issue for what OS you choose is which games you want to play.

Beyond that, I think it's pretty much moot from a functional and practical viewpoint. All that's left is the political considerations. That, and the inexorable gravity well of user inertia you spoke of previously.

162

Living Room / Re: Do we have any musical people on DC?

« on: February 19, 2016, 07:24 PM »

Just a quick note about an excellent set of affordable headphones for studio use. Check out the Sony MDR-V6 Studio Monitor headset. Close to dead flat and an amazing 5-30kHz (that's right 5 as in F-I-V-E) frequency range. If you're a bass player, these are ideal for plugging into a headphone practice amp or jack. Plenty of accurate bass response without those eardrum damaging overtones you get with general purpose or gaming headphones which are designed to "enhance" the low end.

You can buy them for around $80 street/online. They're amazing. To get something better you'd need to spend a few hundred (and then some) on top of that $80. And the sonic improvement wouldn't be as great as you'd think it would be.

Great for studio and recording use. And exceptional for dealing with bass frequencies. A quick Google will spot you numerous rave reviews.

Highly recommended.

163

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« on: February 18, 2016, 08:06 PM »

@Miles - you are so right about Nussbaum. One of my all time favorite drummers. I don't really know what his style would be called either. It's a polyrhythmic sort of thing like you'd hear in the Thelonius Monk Quartet and some of those other old bebop bands. One thing that's interesting to me is how his phrasing is more like a horn player's than your average drummer.

164

Living Room / Re: liquid on keyboard

« on: February 16, 2016, 07:37 AM »

There's a good chance your touchpad is ruined.

However, the more serious problem is the stuff in your drink. As Shades mentioned, that stuff is not friendly towards electronics. It can corride certain components.  That all needs to be cleaned out as soon as can be managed before more harm gets done. That would mean cracking the case, which can be a bit of a pain to do if you haven't done it before - or don't have acces to the "take apart" instructions or the real service manual even if you do. So when in doubt, have a service tech take care of it.

Luck!

165

Living Room / Re: Email problem

« on: February 15, 2016, 07:38 AM »

Ran into that once with a client with a low end DSL connection in one of their remote offices. The additional latency caused multiple sync retries and the firewall which was set up for an adaptive (i.e. heuristic) response interpreted the constant multiple sync responses as a potential attack and shut off the port for 30 minutes thereby killing the sync. Half hour later the port would be reenabled and maybe sync would (or wouldn't) work for awhile until it started jackhammering repeat replies.

If it were a static firewall rule it wouldn't work at all - so the fact it worked and then stopped is a good indication that it's something other than a static rule at work.

I do know some ISP's get a little pissy if you're hitting their routers a little too frequently and rapidly. So they may also be throttling something or blocking a port.

In an attempt to cut down on junk mailers, one of the big providers in my area now insists on you only using their outbound SMTP servers. I first found out about that policy change when I got a dozen calls one morning from clients who suddenly could receive but not send any mail. Turns out the announcement was buried in the middle of an e-mail the ISP sent. You know. One of those marketing e-mails nobody ever reads?

The good part was that you could get a "waiver" of that requirement from this ISP. But you needed to call them and provide a justification for why you needed to do that first. Interfacing with your employer's e-mail system was usually deemed sufficient reason.

You could try calling the ISP to see if it might be on their end.

166

Living Room / Re: Newbud - a new independent news project

« on: February 14, 2016, 07:03 PM »

I wish them the best. So much so I decided to back it.

Now it will be interesting to see if enough people will get behind it. Because, as PBS and other public TV stations quickly discovered back in their early days, the viewing public will say they want one thing, such as "good programming" or "cultural shows" and "good music"  - but will usually elect to watch something else instead. Like the latest episode of Walking Dead or whatever. So I'm not 100% optimistic this is going to happen. But hopefully those same people who claim to want news reporting as accurate, in depth, and "investigative" as they say they do (and like CNN originally started out to be) will come through and hit the pledge button.

If donations continue at their present pace they should hit their $950K target with time to spare.

The fund use breakout is also interesting in that the average salaries for the first year news team hovers roughly around $40K; and the admin/tech staff about the same. Not glamorous - but enough to get by on for the first year if you're dedicated to the cause. That's refreshing. Because half the Kickstarters I see that provide a salary breakout show them being so low that the project is doomed from the start in most cases. People need to eat. And projects that don't provide sufficient enough paychecks to keep their full-time staff out of public housing and off food stamps are far too common - and bound to fold fairly quickly.

But these folks seem to know their business. And it's always nice dealing with people like that. Because the old investment adage holds as true with crowdfunding as it does with standard business and securities investments:

          To avoid serious injuries, never join a hardball league that allows amateurs to play.

167

Living Room / Re: Make a custom 20 key keypad for $10

« on: February 14, 2016, 06:33 PM »

Cool little project. Looks like the dev has announced he's halted development on the HIDmacros software that works this magic and has started a new project called LuaMacros which no longer has a nifty setup GUI. More on that here.

Fortunately, he's since open sourced his code for LuaMacros on github so at least it's available for inspection if somebody wants to do a GUI for it.

168

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« on: February 12, 2016, 03:08 PM »

I predict outcomes of fraud, incompetence and disaster for the teachers and the luckless students who are to be compulsorily afflicted with this experiment. The quality of educational output will necessarily suffer in all of this. One probably only needs to look at India's educational system for a comparison.

-IainB (February 11, 2016, 01:28 PM)

This.

I think it will eventually land in the same scrap heap as the old "new math" and "transformational grammar."

Once again I think it's motivated by some person or persons (possibly with the noblest of intentions) that simply can't accept the fact that not everyone is as interested, motivated, or 'smart' about mathematics as he/she/they are, and has therefor decided to "DO SOMETHING" about it. I sometimes think it's part of the larger Messiah Complex the United States sometimes suffers from. Other examples of it in action are: Prohibition, the "No Child Left Behind" fiasco; and our disastrous forays into "nation building" in Viet Nam, and more recently, the Mideast.

I'm actually surprised it's taken this long for someone to reintroduce something in education to show how we've been doing it "all wrong all along." Which is funny because mathematical and general illiteracy has been slowly climbing for the last thirty years in the good ol' USA. Apparently we used to know how to teach reading and math. But we've apparently lost the secret recipe somewhere along the way. Possibly it got lost in the shuffle when "interrelationship education," "caring," "cultural sensitivity," and "feeling good about yourself," turned better than half of the available classroom time into amateurish and badly conducted group therapy and rap (in the old sense of the word) sessions.

But I suppose the upcoming generation will want their crack at reintroducing failed educational experiments and social initiatives as they come into their majority. So be it.



So it goes. 

169

Living Room / Re: What are you doing for your/with significant other on valentines day?

« on: February 12, 2016, 02:40 PM »

Spending the day in NYC. We'll be hitting all our favorite haunts. 

170

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« on: February 10, 2016, 02:18 PM »

When someone first showed this to me, I thought it was a joke.

Unfortunately, it's not a joke. This is how they're "teaching" math using something called the 'common core' approach.

Isn't that interesting? I don't think you could have gotten more of a WTF??? reaction out of me if you tried. 

And this is the even funnier part. Here we have a half incoherent presentation by a gentleman by the name of Dr. Raj Shah of the Math Plus Academy who will "explain" to us why this method is better than the way math was traditionally taught in schools. (Hint: it's because the traditional way didn't work for everybody, and that was making some students think they couldn't do math - and were feeling bad about themselves because of it. Horrors! We can't have students ever feeling bad about themselves. It's simply "not done" in this our more enlightened (except for the waterboarding) society.)

Those of us old enough tor remember "The New Math" back in the '60s - or unfortunate to have suffered with it in a classroom - will probably hear and see a lot in this presentation they remember. It's that old whine in a new bottle.

"Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness.
When change is absolute there remains no being to improve
and no direction is set for possible improvement:
and when experience is not retained, as among savages,
infancy is perpetual.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - Santayana

171

General Software Discussion / Re: Windows 10 Announced

« on: February 10, 2016, 02:12 PM »

I'm going to wait till about one week shy of the last day I can get it for free and then upgrade the one Windows machine I still have left in the house.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Microsoft:

It's hasn't been that great all these years we've had together. And it certainly hasn't been fun. But it seems we're still gonna be stuck with each other for some things. So lets just deal with those things as they come up, and go our separate ways the rest of the time ok?

No hard feelings. In fact, no feelings - of any kind - at all.

I'd like to say it's been real. But you know how it goes.

Sincerely,

-40Hz.

172

Developer's Corner / Re: Can someone code this website?

« on: February 10, 2016, 01:38 PM »

There's a number of gradebook and rollbook apps and web services (some very good and free) already written.

Take a look here to see some of them. A Google search for rollbook or gradebook software will get you dozens more to check out.

As was previously suggested by Selena Johnes, why reinvent the wheel unless there's something very unusual or specific that you need?

173

fSekrit / Re: Open-sourcing fSekrit

« on: February 09, 2016, 02:31 PM »

@f0dder - That took some thought, and possibly a little courage too. My hat's off to you.   

And it is true, closed source security-related products are sometimes far more dangerous and less trustworthy because of that.

Post-Snowden, I think we're all coming to realize (reluctantly or otherwise) that the only hope for "trusty enough" security is to put it all out in the open.

Brave new world we're living in. Adapting to it is bound to be hard. Either way - Onward! 

(Note: you might want to know it runs really well on Linux under WINE in its present form. On a modern distro like Mint you just need to double click and it works just like it does under Windows. Stick it in a Dropbox or similar online storage bin and you can get to it from anywhere too!)

174

Living Room / Re: Recommend some music videos to me!

« on: February 08, 2016, 09:14 AM »

Every so often you just run into something too cute for words. In this case, a young bassist by the name of Alana Alberg tackling Nathan Watts classic bassline in the Stevie Wonder song Sir Duke. And absolutely nailing it!

175

Living Room / Re: Now that AI has mastered 'Go,' are all our jobs next?

« on: February 06, 2016, 12:47 PM »

In my case, I hope so.