Recent Posts

101

General Software Discussion / Re: Is Windows 10 a trojan?

« Last post by Renegade on January 13, 2016, 10:51 PM »

I had a "moment" today. One of those where nuking Redmond seemed like a good idea.

Windows 10 is beyond Trojan, past malware, and way into devil worshiping, baby eating, demonic darkness.

My loathing for it went up logarithmically today. Again.

102

Living Room / The hilarity of utter ignorance

« Last post by Renegade on January 13, 2016, 10:45 PM »

Have a quick read here for an example of the epitome of ignorance:

https://www.onthewir...ecrypt-users-phones/

Here's a snippet from someone who fundamentally doesn't understand what math is about:

“Encryption threatens to lead us all to a very, very dark place. The place that this is leading us is one that I would suggest we shouldn’t go without careful thought and public debate,” FBI Director James Comey said of the encryption of mobile devices in 2014.

Good luck with putting that genie back in the bottle.

More at the link.

103

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Renegade on January 12, 2016, 10:04 AM »

The RAND Corporation is encouraging governments to attack Bitcoin.

http://www.neowin.ne...oin-and-undermine-it

U.S. sponsored report says governments should attack Bitcoin and undermine it

In a world where constant on and offline surveillance by nation states seems to have become the norm, it’s perhaps little wonder that systems aiming to de-centralize services and maintain privacy have become targets.

In a new report, sponsored by the U.S. government, the influential RAND Corporation paints a bleak picture for the future of Bitcoin and other such technologies based around blockchains and encryption. According to this report, Bitcoin and blockchain technologies are actually succeeding in their primary goal of offering de-centralized, anonymized and resilient services to users around the world.

While that may sound like good news for many users, the report goes on to explain that this is in fact “agnostic to the national security interests of the United States”. Another big problem that the advancement of these technologies brings to the table is the dissemination of information regarding online encryption. Apparently, spreading knowledge of means of encryption and security among the general populace is a very bad idea.

The think tank then goes on to suggest that nation-states, particularly the U.S., should attack services like Bitcoin and other blockchain-based systems, through sophisticated technological means, to undermine their key strengths in the public perception: security, stability and privacy.

So why exactly are these systems, including Bitcoin, “agnostic” to the U.S. and other nation states’ interests? The report focuses on the fact that these technologies could be used by groups, maybe terrorists, to set up persistent communications and currencies that could be almost impossible to disrupt. And that sounds bad.

But there’s another argument which comes up again and again in the original report, and that’s simply the fact that nation-states, again particularly focusing on the U.S., would simply be unable to control or interfere in such systems if they’re developed and widespread.

It’s very doubtful that the debate around encryption and privacy will die down anytime soon, and for good reason, as this is perhaps one of the most important issues for human rights at the beginning of this 21st century.

PDF of the RAND report here: http://www.rand.org/...1231/RAND_RR1231.pdf

104

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: TI Launchpad for $4.32 (reg. $12.99)

« Last post by Renegade on January 12, 2016, 09:56 AM »

Good grief. They just arrived. That was lightning quick!

105

Developer's Corner / Re: How to make a Solar Cell

« Last post by Renegade on January 11, 2016, 11:00 PM »

But still... Berries?

-Renegade (January 11, 2016, 09:50 PM)

Where do you think dyes come from?

-Deozaan (January 11, 2016, 10:19 PM)

Yes, but it just seems "out of place" there.

106

Living Room / Re: Forbes forces users to disable ad blockers, promptly serves malware.

« Last post by Renegade on January 11, 2016, 10:23 PM »

If they'd go back to 'dumb ads' then I think that they wouldn't have this problem.  Images... and pay the artist/photographer.  Like magazine ads.  But... progress, right?

-wraith808 (January 11, 2016, 10:09 PM)

Yep.

The question is progress towards what?


You can still use cookies yourself, or if the ad platform supports it.


People have whined in the past about it being "cheap" or "dirty" to use ad blockers because of "think of the web sitez" and stuff. I didn't buy it then, and I most certainly don't buy it now. Ads are simply obnoxious attack vectors.

If someone has a site that is worthwhile, they need a Bitcoin donation address. I checked my wallet, and all of my most recent transactions are donations for people/web sites.

I didn't donate to Mozilla/Firefox because they wanted my email address and a truckload of information. I had bitcoins in hand ready to give to them... but they f**ked it up by asking for way too much information and making it mandatory. F**k Mozilla. I gave to someone else.

107

Living Room / Re: Forbes forces users to disable ad blockers, promptly serves malware.

« Last post by Renegade on January 11, 2016, 10:16 PM »

IMPORTANT: uBlock Origin is completely unrelated to the site "ublock.org".

What are people here using?

108

Living Room / Re: Smart TVs now "smart" enough for malware

« Last post by Renegade on January 11, 2016, 10:00 PM »

No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

Just no.

It's not "now" smart enough for malware. It's been that way for a LONG time.

I've been working on some of the backend systems for a few years now. Browsers are just 1 attack vector. The attack surface is much larger.

I've also worked on vehicle backend systems. They're less vulnerable. Take that for what you will.

tl;dr - If it has a computer, or if people are involved, it's vulnerable. But some people already knew that.

Personally, I would much prefer a "dumb" display than a smart TV.

-Deozaan (January 11, 2016, 08:53 PM)

Yes. Exactly that.

Also, I prefer analog to digital. Digital is way too slow. I don't have enough patience for it.

109

Developer's Corner / How to make a Solar Cell

« Last post by Renegade on January 11, 2016, 09:50 PM »

This is pretty wild. You could do it at home even.

I think I'll skip it and just buy some cells.

But still... Berries?

110

Living Room / 3rd anniversary of Aaron Swartz's death

« Last post by Renegade on January 11, 2016, 12:23 PM »

Just a small reminder that one of the Internet greats died 3 years ago today.

http://www.nakedcapi...wartzs-politics.html

https://en.wikipedia...rg/wiki/Aaron_Swartz

111

Living Room / Re: silly humor - post 'em here! [warning some NSFW and adult content]

« Last post by Renegade on January 11, 2016, 12:03 AM »

Who would want to  be a solipsist? You would be a supremely religious atheist, a totalitarian anarchist, a serial-killing war-mongering suicidal pacifist, a criminal kingpin who is also the police, an institutionalized maniac who is also a psychiatrist. Who would want to be such a conflicted manic-depressive? Being a serial killer with immortal victims would add to your insanity if that is possible.

-Arizona Hot (January 09, 2016, 12:01 PM)

Hm-m-m-m ... those descriptives seem applicable to a few of the politicians I have known  .  Particularly when it comes to their understandings of the internet .

-barney (January 09, 2016, 12:11 PM)

I looked up Solipsism earlier, and this is the first thing that came to mind:
[ Invalid Attachment ]

-Edvard (January 10, 2016, 04:10 PM)

Solipsism is dangerous. It's also much more prevalent than most people realise. Mark Passio has a few presentations where in parts he outlines some of that. It's interesting stuff.

112

Living Room / Re: Movies you've seen lately

« Last post by Renegade on January 10, 2016, 01:48 AM »

If you're a big Star Wars fan, it's not to be missed. But why am I bothering to say anything if you if you are?

-40hz (January 07, 2016, 08:26 PM)

Because you care, of course! 

You've probably seen it twice already and are planning on going back at least once more, right? 

-40hz (January 07, 2016, 08:26 PM)

Nope. Haven't seen it yet. Haven't had time. I'll wait for the online version. But, I still really like Star Wars a lot. Even if I don't have posters of it all over the house, and dress up like SW characters...

Honestly... A lot of Star Wars and Star Trek fans are just frikkin' nuts.

113

Living Room / Re: Movies you've seen lately

« Last post by Renegade on January 10, 2016, 01:45 AM »

The Revenant



I utterly HATED Leonardo many years ago in the "Titanic" era.

But dammit! He's a bloody great actor.

This movie is long, but it is a good story. Totally predictable, but still... a good watch.

114

Developer's Corner / Re: Beating Castlevania: Symphony of the Night with assembly code

« Last post by Renegade on January 09, 2016, 11:06 PM »

Talk about "God mode". 

115

Found Deals and Discounts / TI Launchpad for $4.32 (reg. $12.99)

« Last post by Renegade on January 09, 2016, 10:36 PM »

Check out the TI blog for a great deal on the TI Launchpad:

https://e2e.ti.com/b...2-launchpad-for-4-32

New Year’s deal: MSP432 LaunchPad™ Development Kit for $4.32!

To get your New Year started off right, MSP developers can now test out the ultra-low-power and high performance MSP432 LaunchPad Development Kit for only $4.32 with the TI Store coupon code 432@432.

That's right, only $4.32, marked down from the regular price of $12.99. So get your MSP432 LaunchPad Development Kit today! This deal is only for a limited time.

It's $7 shipping for me, so I picked up 4. I figure they can't be much harder to learn than any of the other boards out there, and if it's useful, hey... I got a few extras.

But going for a third of the price minus a penny.

I'd read about that line before, but figured I'd skip it because, well... $13 seemed steep for my interest level, and the chances of me finding time for it. I've also learned enough since then to gain a bit more confidence that I'll be able to manage cool something with it.

116

Living Room / "Open" is really gaining traction

« Last post by Renegade on January 06, 2016, 10:40 PM »

We had open source software, and the hardware community is really jumping on board. Here's one project:

http://www.electrosmash.com/1wamp

1Wamp Electric Guitar Amplifier - Open Hardware

1Wamp is a one Watt small guitar amplifier based on a JFET guitar pre-amp, the Big Muff Pi tone control and the LM386 power amplifier. This portable amp is an open hardware project designed by ElectroSmash using only free and open-source tools.

More at the link.

It seems like there's a very strong movement going on.

I'm just posting as this has been going on for a while, and it is continuing to go on in more and wider ways.

 

117

Living Room / Re: Does anyone here use Bitcoins?

« Last post by Renegade on January 04, 2016, 12:05 PM »

David Cameron seems to think that raiding people's bank accounts is a good thing.

http://www.telegraph...d-bank-accounts.html

David Cameron: Taxes will rise unless we can raid bank accounts

David Cameron claims he will "have to put up taxes" unless tax officials are given draconian powers to raid people's bank accounts

Maybe for Bitcoin, as it's a heck of a lot safer than a UK bank account now.

118

N.A.N.Y. 2016 / Re: N.A.N.Y. 2016 Announcement

« Last post by Renegade on January 04, 2016, 12:10 AM »

I feel shitty. The last few years I've had mountains of work right around the last quarter of the year, leaving me no breathing space to do anything. RAT was my last.

For N.A.N.Y. 2017 I plan to release way, way, way early.

I'll get on top of thinking about something now.

My first thoughts are for some kind of mini-computer, like a Raspberry Pi Zero or something like that.

119

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Renegade on January 03, 2016, 08:55 PM »

Real Burning Lightsaber - YouTube

-Arizona Hot (December 30, 2015, 02:11 PM)

Damn... I want one of those!

Better yet, I'd like to BUILD one of those!~



 

120

Living Room / Re: Programming/Coder humor

« Last post by Renegade on January 03, 2016, 08:51 PM »

Did you hear about the sysadmin that was always checking everyone's privileges?

121

Developer's Corner / 20 OSCILLATORS IN 20 MINUTES

« Last post by Renegade on January 03, 2016, 08:46 PM »

On the bizarre side...

https://media.ccc.de...lators_in_20_minutes

mouser had posted a link to a talk at that event. I found this one, and it's... different.

Think 555 on overdrive.

122

Developer's Corner / Re: Ethics in Technology

« Last post by Renegade on January 01, 2016, 08:03 PM »

On the kind of humour side:

https://youtu.be/y_uj_8QiioY?t=2m47s

123

Living Room / Re: Interesting "stuff"

« Last post by Renegade on January 01, 2016, 01:59 AM »

[ Invalid Attachment ]

Woman stuffed $1.9 million in purse over 15 years

-Arizona Hot (December 31, 2015, 01:00 PM)

Seems a bit harsh considering the outright criminality going on in banking today that costs billions or trillions, which goes unpunished. 

124

Developer's Corner / Re: Ethics in Technology

« Last post by Renegade on January 01, 2016, 01:54 AM »

A presentation by white hat hackers who decompiled and studied the volkswagon cheating firmware:
https://media.ccc.de..._dieselgate#download

-mouser (December 31, 2015, 12:07 PM)

I really wonder how you found that.

I watched the whole thing, and it was very interesting.

What I got out of it was that government regulations create some pretty bad situations.

If there were less force/regulation, and more transparency, I think we'd have better vehicles. Like, who in their right mind wants less efficiency in their vehicle?

125

Living Room / Re: HAPPY NEW YEAR 2016

« Last post by Renegade on January 01, 2016, 12:12 AM »

Happy New Year! All the best to everyone. May your cup run over, and your bank accounts be full!